The Moth and the Butterfly
by Wendy Bunny
Summary: Dib has a new partner named Wendy (OC) to help him defeat Zim, but things start to get complicated as her feelings for Dib grow and the duo is pitted against a greater threat to mankind. Will their mission to save earth tear them apart or bring them together? The story title is a reference to Dib's alias known as Agent Mothman. Written from Wendy's POV.
1. Chapter 1

It was a dark and dreary February morning. Thick, heavy rain clouds hovered over the city like a nightmarish

blanket of impending doom. And speaking of which, Valentine's Day was drawing dangerously near. I couldn't help

dreading it and it wasn't just the fact that I had no significant other.

Really, that was my choice.

Okay...so it wasn't.

Let's just say that for some strange reason, boys have always seemed to avoid me, found me creepy, whatever, which over the years has lead to feelings of extreme

anti socialism and bitterness. Honestly, the apocalypse sounded much more appealing than just hanging out in the shadows, alone and unloved while everyone else

partook in a day of romance and heart shaped meat, which was perfectly fine since I was a vegan anyway.

Not to sound pessimistic, but the day I actually find love will most likely be the day aliens invade Earth and nuke us all. The tall cement building loomed over me like a

monstrous fortress threatening to engulf all humankind who dared enter it. I stood there, shaking my head at the sign out front. You would think that a place of

learning would have the decency to spell 'high school' correctly.

Hi Skool?

Wow, if that wasn't contradicting enough. Even though it was Friday, today was going to be my first since my previous school had lost my transcripts, so the paperwork

couldn't be processed until later in the week. One of the results of moving at the start of a new semester, I guess. I was wondering if I should even bother going

through with this or not, but I was already here, so there was no turning back now. Pulling my winter coat tightly around me, I took in a deep breath of frosty air and

headed for the double door entrance.

After picking up my schedule from the office, I finally located my first class and burst through the door. Suddenly all eyes were on me and the room fell silent. The

teacher was an old, intimidating snake of a woman with gray hair pulled into a perfectly tight bun. According to my schedule, her name was Ms. Bitters. I nearly

stumbled backward as she slithered over to me in one sweeping, Dracula like motion, drawing up to her full height of about eight feet. I admitted she was scary. If I

didn't know better I'd say she was some kind of shadow demon.

"Yes?" she sneered. "What do you want?"

I timidly handed her my slip of paper and she immediately snatched it away. "Class," she spat. "I would like to introduce the newest hopeless appendage to the

student body. Her name is Wendy," Wow. I was beginning to feel right at home already, knowing that one of my new teachers thought I was hopeless. "Hi Wendy."

the classed drawled unenthusiastically and I waved awkwardly at them. "Wendy!" the old woman said in a harsh tone that made me jump. "Before you take your seat,

let me remind you that in my classroom, tardiness is unacceptable! Now either you arrive on time or you will suffer greatly." Confused, I glanced at my watch. "But Ms.

Bitters," I argued "I was only two minutes late!"

"Exactly!" she hissed "Now take your seat and don't let it happen again!" At this point, I think it was safe to say the woman definitely lived up to her name.

I was hoping to find a seat near the back of the classroom but unfortunately, they were all packed with enough bodies to fill a morgue. I was guessing from the way

everyone huddled together that they wanted to stay out of Ms. Bitters' way just as much as I did.

Smart kids.

As I settled uncomfortably into a desk at the front row, Ms. Bitters' began a very dismal lecture about the rise of Armageddon or something or other. One could only

guess how many times she used the word 'doom'. Boredom getting the best of me, I began to avert my gaze elsewhere and it was then that I noticed the boy sitting

next to me. He had a goth like but intellectual nature about him from his alabaster skin to his large round glasses to the long black trench coat he wore draped around

the rest of his matching attire.

But it was his hair that I found the most mesmerizing. It was done up in a large jagged spike, like a bolt of jet black lightning or the comb of a foreboding peacock.

Whatever it was meant to resemble, I had to admit I found it strangely beautiful and_

Crap.

I was falling for him. That was not good. I was already starting to foresee this story's plot.

Girl meets boy.

Girl sprouts tentacles or some other unattractive feature.

Boy runs for his life.

If I backed out of this now, I could save myself the excruciating pain of having my heart ripped out and thrown into a meat grinder. But for some reason, I just couldn't

tear my eyes away from him. I was completely spellbound by not only his charming good looks, but the way he delved into the notes he had splayed all over his desk.

Given from the sketches of extraterrestrials and such, it looked like it had to do with something other than Ms. Bitters' teaching. Something involving paranormal study.

I hated falling victim to the whole 'love at first sight' stuff but there was no denying that these feelings were going to continuously grow like cancer cells.

"See something you like, new girl?" an obnoxious female voice suddenly whispered. I turned to the girl behind me.

She was wearing a large black headband over a purple spiked pixie cut. "What do you mean?" I whispered back. A mean little smirk played across her lips and her olive

doll eyes narrowed suspiciously as they shifted from me to the boy. "Don't play dumb," she said dangerously. "I see the way you've been drooling over that Dib freak

like a big dumb Saint Bernard."

Congratulations, Wendy you've just won an award for being the most obvious about who you're crushing on.

"Well," I retorted. "That's not very nice to call your boyfriend a freak." She recoiled, greatly offended by my remark. "Umm ewww? The kid _is _a freak! He's always raving

about aliens and vampires and how he's going to become a paranormal investigator and save the world, blah, blah, blah. Seriously! What are you seeing in him? He's

crazy and annoying!"

"He doesn't look crazy or annoying to me." I said, watching Dib again. This time, I noticed the green kid he kept taking cautious glances at in between the notes he

was taking. Hmm. Why was his skin green? Maybe Dib was onto something.

"Oh please!" the girl said, rolling her eyes. Then leaning over my shoulder, she whispered close to my ear, "A word of advice, you'll never fit in here so long as you hang

around crazies like Dib. Nobody likes him and neither should you." Suddenly Dib's big brown eyes locked onto mine. I averted my gaze to the floor and pretended to

play with my bunny necklace.

"Is there a problem, Zita?" Ms. Bitters asked, stopping the lecture.

"Oh Ms. Bitters," the girl called Zita replied in a voice as sickeningly sweet as a poison laced cupcake. "I was simply telling the new girl to stop interrupting your wonderful lesson plan. She's got an awfully big mouth."

Wow what a bitch. Trying to get me in deeper trouble to save her own ass. I turned to give her an angry scowl and she in return gave me that smirk I already hated so

much. Ms. Bitters lunged at me like a rattlesnake striking a mouse. "Are you going to keep your mouth shut and pay attention, Wendy or am I going to have to send

you to the underground classrooms?"

Normally, I would have argued that Zita had been the cause of disruption but it was all too apparent that this woman ruled the 'skool' with an iron fist and I was not

about to find out what she meant by underground classrooms.

"No Ms. Bitters," I sighed, sinking lower into my seat. "I'm fine." She continued to look daggers at me over her half mooned glasses. Then she said, "Well, then you

should do well to not interrupt my lecture again. Now sit down and be quiet. I don't want to hear another peep out of you for the remainder of the period or semester

for that matter!" And with that, she slithered back to her desk.

I really couldn't fathom how anyone this hostile ever became a school teacher. Ms. Bitters seemed to hate her job as much as she hated me.

For the rest of class, I struggled to focus on anything other than Dib, but every now and then, I still found myself stealing brief glances at him. That was until Zita

jabbed me in the back with her pencil.

Okay.

Now she was really starting to piss me off.

I whirled around, angrily whispering, "What the hell is your problem?"

"You!" she hissed back. "And your sick obsession! Not only is your constant ogling disturbing, it's disgusting! How about you grow some self respect and not go for

losers?"

"How about you mind your own business?"

"If it involves keeping the weirdoes out of my clique then it is my business! And if you choose Dib over the people who actually matter then consider yourself an outcast

by association." "I think I'll manage, thank you." I gave her one final glare before turning around again. It was obvious that Zita was antagonizing me because she

relished getting me in trouble, so I figured it was best not to give her that satisfaction. It was my first day of 'skool' and I already had a bully and a teacher from hell. I

could only hope that things would start looking up from here. But I couldn't guarantee it.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, I had awoken to the sounds of voices shouting outside. Rolling onto my side, I squinted at the numbers on my digital alarm clock. 3:15am. Who the hell was making so much noise at this hour? Feeling groggy and annoyed, I climbed out of bed and crossed the room toward my open window and peeled back the curtains. I could barely make out the outline of the two figures standing in my yard below as I peered into the darkness.

Why they had to be there of all places, I had no idea. Fortunately, my mom had left town for the weekend for some R&R after the move, so I didn't have to worry about her getting woken up from the belligerence. However, I couldn't be sure that it wouldn't piss off the neighbors. From what I could hear, it sounded like two boys in my yard and they were having a very heated argument.

"I don't care!" one of them yelled. "I don't care if they think I'm crazy! I know the truth! I know what you really are! I can't prove it just yet but as soon as I can, everyone else will know what you are too! An alien! Just you wait! As soon as I can prove it, I'm going to expose you, Zim! You're going to regret the day you ever came to Earth!" The other one laughed like a classic super villain so scarily accurate that it caused the hairs on my neck to stand on end. "FOOLISH INSOLENT HUMAN! You haven't been able to prove my true identity for the last six years! What makes you so confident that this time will be any different? All your pathetic little plans against Zim have and to this very day remain THWARTED! You and your theories will always be a ruse among all humans until I have ENSLAVED THEM ALL!"

"Don't be so sure, Zim! I have many top secret plans you know nothing about and when you least expect it, your guts will be splayed all over an autopsy table after you have been sold to a lab as a scientific test subject on _Mysterious Mysteries_!" "LIES! That big stupid head of yours does not make up for the microscopic little, brain inside! Your puny human technology is no match for advanced Irken technology! YOU CAN NEVER OUTSMART ZIM!"  
"MY HEAD IS NOT BIG!"  
"Hey!" I shouted from the window. "It's three in the morning and you guys are being too freaking loud! Can you please keep it down and maybe get off my lawn?" The two boys fell silent as they backed up into the orange light of a streetlamp, looking up at me like two deer caught in the headlights. That was when I caught sight of the pointy hair and glasses and my heart lurched. Of all people, Dib had to be in my yard at 3am and I just yelled at him. Way to make a good first impression, Wendy. Standing beside him was the green kid I recognized from class earlier, the one I assumed was called Zim.

Dib turned to him and applauded sarcastically. "Well good job, Zim! Wake up the entire neighborhood with all your incessant shouting about your plans for world domination and see if that doesn't draw attention to you! Can you imagine if you hadn't worn your disguise on top of everything else?"

Zim placed a finger to his chin as if for a moment he was considering the fact that Dib had a point, but then he just crossed his arms and turned away with his nose in the air. Actually, he didn't appear to even have a nose, which was just as suspicious as his greenish complexion. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said with false innocence. "I'm simply just a normal human worm baby like any of you wretched earth scum. I've got nothing to hide."

I couldn't help but suddenly be amused by all of this. If aliens were real, I honestly hoped the rest of them weren't as incompetent as Zim. If they were, that would be a great disappointment to all who believed in their existence.  
Human worm baby?  
Wretched earth scum?

Right. I'm sure that kind of vocabulary will really help you keep up your appearance Zim. "Okay," I said, trying not to grin. "You know what? Hold on a sec. I'm coming down." I slipped into my fuzzy pink bunny slippers and quickly ran a brush through my long blonde hair before heading downstairs. If Dib was going to be outside my house in the middle of the night, the least I could do was not have bed head.

Just to be safe, I grabbed my can of mace. I wasn't sure how dangerous Zim was or if the stuff was even effective against aliens (if he was one) but I figured it was best not to underestimate him. It was also a possibility that he could be nothing more than a special ed kid with a nasty skin condition. Whatever he was, I guess I was about to find out. I had to admit however, that I was afraid as I was curious to uncover the truth.

I could feel my stomach doing wild somersaults as soon as I got outside and starting moving closer to Dib. Trying my best to ignore the awkward sensation of him being so near, I approached Zim. I must confess that for a seventeen year old, I was pretty small, about five feet or so. But close up, he was no taller than me. In fact, he looked like he could have even been a foot shorter. Dib on the other hand looked to be about 5'9, taller than both of us.

"So," I said to Zim. "You really are human huh?" "Of course Zim is human you foolish female!" he insisted. "As you can see, I am a perfectly normal_" he made a sour face as if the word was a bad taste in his mouth "_hyooman _specimen, er I mean...citizen of Earth. I am no different from you. I share the same putrid DNA as you, the same functioning organs_"

"Including a squeedly spooch!" Dib chimed in.  
"BE QUIET!" Zim yelled, shaking his fist at him as I hid a smile.

"A squeedly spooch?" I pressed. "What exactly is a squeedly spooch? Maybe you can elaborate on that Zim?" "It's...a," he started but then stopped myself once he realized he was playing right into my hands. "Zim has never heard of no such organ and nor does Zim have one! The Dib monkey LIES! I have simply human intestines!"  
"Just intestines?"  
"And six hearts and three spleens too!"  
"Really? Because last time I checked, the human anatomy consisted of one heart and one spleen."

"You dare question Zim?" He got in my face and I gasped when I caught sight of his mouth. It was filled with rows of serrated teeth and a long serpentine tongue. Now _that _was not normal.

I reached my hand into my pajama pocket, fingers enclosed protectively around the mace can. On the plus side, Dib was standing behind Zim, looking impressed by my interrogation.

"It just seems a bit odd to me," I replied. "That someone who is supposedly human could have such little knowledge about their own race." "Odd?" Zim echoed, glaring at me with those strange, vitreous blue eyes. "Zim is not odd!"  
"So you're not an alien?"  
"Of course not!"  
"Then what's with the green skin? And don't tell me it's a skin condition."  
"It's a skin condition," he said with a defiant smirk. He reached up to pat my head with a black gloved hand as if I were a dog. "Oh you poor doomed child, so ignorant and delusional just like the Dib stink."  
"She doesn't believe you Zim!" Dib said, stepping between us.  
"Nobody here is falling for your little act or your phony disguise either! I've been onto you since day one and Wendy is too smart to be fooled by your sorry excuses!"

I couldn't help but beam at him from his compliment. But my state of bliss was soon cut short and replaced by mortification when Zim walked around him with these scary metal spiderlike legs emerging from his back. His mouth curled into a nefarious grin as he stalked towards me on them.  
"Well then," he leered. "Let's see how smart she is once I remove her brain."  
Slowly, I backed away as he attempted to poke my eyes and ears with four of the frontal robot legs.  
Then instinctively, I withdrew the mace can from my pocket and sprayed the contents directly into Zim's face.

There was a slight twitching of his eye followed by a sneeze, but other than that, he had no serious reaction.  
Great. He was immune.  
"SILLY LITTLE EARTH WRETCH!" He raged. "YOU THINK YOU CAN ATTACK ZIM? I DON'T THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF!" Suddenly the robotic legs lunged for me again, but before I could run, they clamped around my ankles, pulling me upside and suspending me in the air. Angrily, I tried to swipe at Zim but it was useless since he was holding me at a distance. He only laughed mockingly.  
"Your feeble attempts to fight me are so pitiful it's almost amusing!" "  
"Let go of her!" Dib suddenly barreled into him, knocking us both down.  
For a while, Zim and I continued to wrestle one another while Dib tried his best to restrain him.  
He threw me in the grass where he pinned me on my back and proceeded to strangle me.  
I reached up to gouge one of his eyes and I freaked when the thing fell out into my hand.

Upon closer inspection, I that it hadn't been an eye at all  
but a contact lens.  
Looking back at Zim, I gaped in horror at the large, red alien like eye glaring down at me.  
"Oh. My. God."  
"That's not all he has!" declared Dib as he yanked off what apparently had been a wig from Zim's head, revealing two also very alien like antennae.  
Case closed.  
"There you have it Wendy! Proof that Zim is a real alien!" "FOOLS!" Zim screeched, snatching the pitiful disguise out of our grasp. "You can't expose me! I will rule both of you once I have destroyed this miserable spinning ball of waste you call Earth and I will see that you will both be diabolically experimented on! You will rue the day you ever messed with ZIM!"

Suddenly my lawn sprinklers turned on, drenching him. Dib and I instantly dodged the spray of water. Zim on the other hand remained in the grass, where he lay in a fetal position, writhing and flailing while screaming, "THE PAIN! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" He wasn't kidding. I sat in the driveway, watching in utter disbelief as the water singed him so badly,  
you'd think that he was being showered in acid.  
Dib just laughed triumphantly. "What's the matter Zim? Forgot to wear your protective paste armor?"

I had to admit this was painful to watch and at this point, I sort of felt sorry for Zim even if he did try to poke my brain out. For a moment, I debated with myself as to whether or not I should bother helping him but luckily, he ended up rolling back onto the sidewalk out of harm's way.

Soaking wet, he unsteadily climbed to his feet and pulled out what looked like some kind of communication device.  
"GIR!" he barked into it. "Bring me the voot cruiser and take me home!"  
"Yes, my master!" a robotic voice replied.  
Seconds later, a massive purple spacecraft came zipping down the street and nearly crashed right in front of my house.  
I stood gaping in awe at the thing.  
Never in my life had I ever expected to see anything like this.  
Dib went after Zim in hot pursuit but the creepy little alien was too fast for him.  
Already, he had boarded and began to take off into the night.

"You can't hide forever, Zim!" Dib taunted after him as the voot cruiser disappeared around the street corner.  
"You may have gotten away tonight but it won't be long before I turn you in to authorities! One of these days, I'll get you! You'll see!"  
"A...hem." I said in attempt to get his attention.  
"Oh!" He turned to me, looking dumbfounded as if he had briefly forgotten that I was there.  
He ran out of the street and back towards me, the tails of his trench coat flapping behind him.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he helped me to my feet.  
"I guess so," I replied. "What the hell was that all about anyway?"  
"I've been after that space monster for years," he murmured, turning to shake his fist at the street corner where the voot cruiser had disappeared.  
"Since the day he walked into my fifth grade class, I knew instantly what he was, an alien posing as a student so that he could destroy Earth." "You've known him for that long?" I asked. "Yes," he said. "But no matter how many times I've tried to prove his true identity, things just never seem to go according to plan or people just simply don't believe me.  
I'm just the boy who cried wolf to them or in my case, alien."  
"Well," I consoled as I came up behind him. "I certainly believe you. I mean there's no way I'm going to just turn the other cheek when both him and his spacecraft were exposed right in front of me. That would just be stupid."  
"You're right!" he suddenly exclaimed, facing me again.  
"About what?" I asked, confused. "That it's stupid?"  
"Well yeah," he said giddily. "That would be stupid but that's not what I'm saying!"  
His smile was so cute and dazzling that I couldn't help but smile back.  
Then my heart fluttered when he suddenly grabbed my shoulders.

"Wendy," he said. "You saw everything and you're not in denial! You are my witness! Don't you see it? Together, we can end his reign of terror against all mankind as an unstoppable team! What do you say?"  
"Um, sounds great," I said, trying to sound casual, even though my body screamed from his touch.  
"But didn't Zim say he was going home?" "He didn't mean his home planet," Dib explained. "He's got a base set up here in the city in which he tries to pass off as a_" he used his fingers to make quotation marks around the word, "house, but it takes an experienced paranormal investigator to tell that it's an unconvincing piece of work,"

He paused for a moment, then smacked his forehead before resuming. "I am so sorry. Here I go rambling away and I forget to even introduce myself. I'm Dib Membrane."  
"I know who you are," I smiled as I shook his extended hand. "And I can see you already know me."  
"Yes, you sat next to me in Ms. Bitters' class yesterday. By the way, I'm sorry for what happened. She's mean to everyone so don't take it personally. Well, everyone except Zita. She's kind of her class pet."  
"I figured." I said, rolling my eyes as I recalled that evil smirk and bad haircut.  
Dib tipped his head to one side as he watched me curiously  
"What were they giving you such a hard time about anyway?"  
"It' not important." I said, staring down at my slippers.  
"Well alright," he shrugged before glancing at his watch. "Wow is it really four-thirty already? Time sure flies when you're protecting the planet from alien scum. I should go. It's been nice meeting you, Wendy and sorry for all the commotion. Have a goodnight."  
"Wait!" I called, running after him. He stopped and turned to me again, looking surprised.  
"Um, maybe I can walk you home?" "In your pajamas?" he asked with a laugh.  
"Yeah, I don't mind."

For a moment, he just stared at me but then a sincere smile played across his lips. "Really?"  
I smiled and nodded. "Well alright," he said. "Just put this on for me first," To my surprise, he stepped out of his trench coat and draped it around my shoulders. "I'm amazed you even lasted this long standing outside dressed like that in the middle of winter. You're lucky it didn't start snowing." "Thanks," I said appreciatively. I started to melt inside but I think it was more from Dib's chivalric move rather from the physical warmth of the coat.  
"Anytime Wendy," he smiled. "Come on. My house is not far from yours,"  
We slowly made our way down the dimly lit street.  
"You know," he said "Ms. Bitters used to teach my fifth grade class before eventually moving on to teach hi skool."  
"You're kidding!" I said, gaping at him. "I feel so sorry for you." "Yeah, well I guess she figured adolescents would be _slightly_ more tolerable than the prepubescent juveniles she was dealing with.  
Sadly though, it doesn't seem like it's made that much of a difference to her now, does it?"  
"Not at all," I said "She really despises anyone who's a non Zita." "Pretty much," Dib conceded. We both laughed at the horrible truth.  
"I know firsthand all too well. Ever since I was eleven, I've been bullied by not just her but by the entire student body. I'm sure you've heard some of the kids talking about me by now. 'Stay away from that alien obsessed kid with the abnormally large head, he's crazy!' Am I right?" He looked at me expectantly.  
"They don't know you," I said reassuringly. "And for the record, I think your head looks perfectly head sized to me."  
Suddenly, Dib stopped walking and just stood there beaming at me. It was as if my words had been a warm, comforting hug he had long needed. "You..." he started, incredulously. "You're the first person to ever say that to me! I don't know what to say."  
It was rewarding to see that I had made him happy. Hopefully, it would continue.  
"You don't have to say anything," I smiled.  
"You know what my favorite part about tonight was?" he said, walking again.  
"What?" I asked, excitedly. "When your sprinklers turned on and got Zim!" he giggled. "That moment was priceless!  
Ooh if only I had gotten that on tape! I could have had him persecuted and gotten a good laugh at the same time!"  
"So water really hurts aliens, huh?" I asked.  
"Well," said Dib. "Just the Irken race as far as I know. They're the ones I've been researching the most since they seem to be the greatest threat at this time."  
"So you think the Earth is really in danger?" "Oh I don't 'think' it's in danger," he said defensively. "I _know_! You saw the terrorism Zim displayed tonight!" "True," I said, shuddering at the thought of him attacking me with those scary metal legs.  
"Man, I really would have had hell of a time explaining all that to my mom if she had been here tonight."  
"At least she would have known the truth," Dib insisted. "If nobody in this city is going to believe me then they will just have to see it with their own eyes. Then they will know what they are up against and that I had been right all along!"

Maybe I was going mental, but for some strange reason I was beginning to find the way he passionately raved about aliens and the fate of the world really, well...sexy. I just didn't want him to stop. In fact, I could probably listen to him all night if I could.  
Okay, seriously Wendy, stop it.

By the time I shook myself from my dreamy haze, Dib had stopped talking and was watching me oddly.  
"What?" I laughed. He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just, well I'm amazed that you haven't tried to shut me up by now.  
Most people usually find me annoying within the first two minutes after meeting me and find my beliefs in paranormal phenomenon either crazy or stupid. Why are you so different from everyone else?"  
"Um, I don't know," I said. "I guess I just think that everyone should believe in whatever they want and not let anyone  
else tell them differently. If you believe in the paranormal then you believe in the paranormal and I totally support you on that. You shouldn't be silenced for having an opinion. It's not even an opinion, really. After seeing what I saw tonight, I've  
learned that your beliefs are a fact and that will never change. So you have every right to be heard."

He was still watching me attentively even after I had stopped speaking. "Wow..." was all he could muster.

Soon we came to a dark house silhouetted against the starry purple night sky. "This is it," Dib said, as I walked him to his front door. He started to unlock it then stopped and turned to me. "Um, I just wanted to say thanks for walking me home, Wendy.  
It's not every day that I meet someone who actually enjoys my company and will listen to the things I say. It really meant alot to me." He took my hand and gave it a squeeze as he smiled meaningfully.

I struggled to maintain my footing as my legs turned to Jello. "No problem." I said, giving his hand a squeeze in return before he could pull away. "Are you going to be okay walking back home by yourself?" he asked.  
"I'd hate for you to run into Zim again on the way if he's still out there."  
"I really doubt he's in the position to assault me any further tonight after getting owned by my sprinklers." I reassured him.  
Dib chuckled at my remark. "I guess you're right about that. Wendy, before you go I wanted to ask you something."  
"Yeah?" I said, excitedly. " I need to get inside Zim's base and install some new spy cams. He seemed to have found and disabled the ones I originally had placed there. Do you want to maybe join me later?"  
"Really?" I asked. He nodded.  
"Um, sure I'd love to." "Great! Meet me back here tonight at seven."  
"Got it." "Have a good night, Wendy."  
I started to leave but then spun around again just time before he closed the door behind him.  
"Wait! Don't you want your coat back?"  
"Keep it for now," he said, waving a dismissive hand at me. "You need it more than I do right now."  
"Oh wow...thanks." We bid each other a final goodnight and I started to head back home.

Back in my room, I struggled to fight my growing urge to sleep with Dib's trench coat. Naturally, I ended up failing horribly when I got up to retrieve the thing from the computer chair I had draped it over.  
I returned to bed, holding it close to me as if it were a teddy bear. Gently, I ran the soft material against my cheek,  
inhaling the alluring scent that could either have been detergent or pheromones. Or both.  
Just before drifting off to sleep again, I found myself thinking, would it be wrong to wish for Dib to still be inside this coat while I held it?


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed to have been only two minutes later when the bright sunlight came streaming through the window.  
It nearly blinded me when I opened my eyes. I raised my head from the pillow to squint at the alarm clock and gasped in disbelief. Had I really slept in past noon?  
Flinging the blankets off, I sprang to my feet and started to make the bed and that was when I spied the familiar lump wedged in between the sheets.  
"Oh. No."  
Dib's trench coat lay there in a rumpled pile of wrinkles. Maybe sleeping with it hadn't been the greatest idea after all. I made a mental note to introduce Mr. Coat to Mr. Iron before meeting up with him tonight. In the meantime, I returned it to its original place on my computer chair before heading to the bathroom for a shower.

Around six-thirty, I started getting ready to head over to Dib's. I decided on an all black outfit for obscurity. If I was going to be a spy, it couldn't hurt to dress for the occasion, right? It was almost tempting to underline my eyes with black paint to complete the look but in the end, I decided that would be overkill.  
After pulling my hair into a quick chignon, I headed downstairs, grabbing Dib's freshly smoothed trench coat from the ironing board on the way out. The brisk night air greeted me with an icy vengeance as soon as I had opened the front door. Despite my heavy black puffer jacket, I shivered violently against the bitter cold. The temperature had to have dropped down to about forty-five degrees since sundown, and that really sucked. Swiftly, I dashed to retrieve my bike I had taken from the garage earlier, hopped on and peddled towards the Membrane residence as quickly as I could.

At first, I wasn't sure as to whether or not I had been going down the right street but luckily, the house I recognized from the previous night eventually came into view. I parked my bike along the side before racing up to the front door.  
When I tried the doorbell, there was no immediate answer. I stood back, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet as I waited anxiously. Still no response. I stabbed the doorbell one more time, this time with a very persistent finger. By that time, I could hear some signs of life coming from within. An aggravated grunt followed by shuffling footsteps. Seconds later, a petite girl with purple hair answered the door, holding a half eaten slice of pizza. She was dressed in goth like attire with a large skull necklace that dangled from her neck. Based on her sour expression, it became apparent that I had annoyed her and despite the way she glowered at me, I greeted her with a friendly smile. "Hi. I'm sorry to bother you but is Dib home?"  
She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "You're here to see my brother?"  
"Well, yeah." I said. She rolled her eyes then with an irritated sigh, she said "He's up in his room...being weird as usual."  
"Thanks!" I said, leaping out of the cold as she stepped aside to let me in. "Jeez! It's so freezing outside."  
"Maybe because it's in the middle of winter?" she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Right," I said, sheepishly. "Oh, I'm Wendy by the way." I held out my hand and she reluctantly shook it. "Gaz." Her venomous glare shifted suspiciously from me to the sight of her brother's coat draped over my arm. Good job, Wendy now she thinks you're even weirder. "So," I started. "You said his room is upstairs?" "First door on your left." She finished apathetically.  
"Great, thanks!" I said before ascending the stairs.

I was having a mad case of butterflies in my stomach, knowing I was about to see Dib's room for the first time. As soon as I reached his door, I drew in a deep calming breath and quickly smoothed my hair before timidly knocking. He answered the door seconds later, looking overwhelmingly handsome in a very spy chic black bodysuit with a silver zipper in the front. I immediately had to bat away the thought of unzipping it. Really, Wendy could you be any more of a pervert?  
"Hi Wendy," he said with a smile. "I'm glad you showed up. Just packing some supplies we're going to need before sneaking into Zim's base. Are you okay?" His head tipped to the side as he eyed me curiously.  
It took me a moment to realize that I had been gawking at him like a zombie. "Um, yeah," I replied, shaking myself from my dreamy state. "Fine, I'm fine." "Oh, well alright then," he said with satisfied shrug as he slipped back into his room.  
"Come on inside. I shouldn't be much longer."

It was like stepping into a mini planetarium. All four walls were mostly covered in posters and drawings of the solar system and extraterrestrials illuminated by the violet glow of black lights. Another section was posted with various clippings of newspaper articles on Big Foot, vampire and UFO sightings. Amidst all that was a bed that lay alongside a window and a very futuristic looking, state of the art computer. "Did my sister let you in?" Dib asked, setting a backpack on the bed and stuffing it with what looked like some night vision goggles.  
"Yeah," I replied, still gazing in awe at my surroundings. "Her name is Gaz, right?" "Right, and I'm sorry if she made you feel unwelcome. She's usually not very friendly."  
"Why is that?" I asked. Dib shrugged. " Just antisocial, I guess. Video games and pizza are her only ideal company, really."  
"Well, I guess that's understandable, considering how lame most people can be."  
"Tell me about it." he agreed. "Dib," I said "I have to admit your room looks very...galactic."  
"Go ahead and say it," he said tediously as he rolled his eyes. "I'm an obsessive parascience nerd."

"No, not at all! I mean sure you seem to have a really deep fascination with this stuff but it's very awesome, and I'm so touched that you trust me enough to share all this with me. Really."  
He gave me that knee weakening smile again. "Well, you seem like a trustworthy person, Wendy. There are not many people who understand my ambition to become a paranormal investigator the way you do. Even my own family finds the whole concept batty."  
I raised my eyebrows, surprised by the sudden tinge of sadness in his voice. "What?"  
He stepped away from the bed and sighed. "My dad is a scientist, but his theories differ greatly from mine. He refuses to believe any explanation of phenomena that is not logical to him, therefore he considers paranormal study a joke, and Gaz, well she just doesn't care about the fate of our world," He paused.  
"But that's all to be expected since everyone else thinks I'm crazy." "But they're your family," I protested. "They're supposed to love you unconditionally and support your dreams not shatter them." His smile was wistful. "We're kind of dysfunctional."  
"Well what about your mom? What does she think of all this?" "I should really finish packing this stuff so we can get out of here." "Dib?" I asked, confounded. He didn't answer as he turned away and proceeded to occupy himself with the backpack again. Weird. Either he was really in a hurry to get to Zim's or for some reason, he wanted to avoid the subject of his mother. Despite my growing curiosity, I figured it was best to just let it go for now. As I averted my gaze towards the floor, it was then that I realized I was still holding his trench coat. "Oh Dib, here's your coat back by the way. Thanks again for lending it to me." "Oh! Right," he said, turning around as I tossed it to him. "Sure, it was no trouble at all." He started for the closet and I held my breath when he suddenly paused to scrutinize the coat.  
"Huh," he said, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Is something...wrong?" I asked cautiously. He shook his head. "It's just for some reason, this looks a lot less wrinkled than usual," he lifted his gaze towards me "Did you...iron this for me?"  
"No." I said quickly. His brown eyes narrowed dubiously at me over his large glasses. Clearly, he was unconvinced. Crap. I guess his hair wasn't the only thing sharp about him.

"Okay," I conceded. "So I did. You're not mad are you?" "Mad?" he echoed with a laugh. "Why would that make me mad?" Because I'm an ultra psychotic stalker who sleeps with your clothes and then irons them to cover up the evidence? Right, that doesn't sound creepy at all. When I didn't answer, he just smiled and shook his head in astonishment. "I don't know why you're so nice to me Wendy, but I have to admit it's surreal, considering the way everyone else treats me."  
"Well," I said "I figured it was the least I could do since you were nice enough to lend it to me in the first place and well, befriend me."  
His smile turned meaningful as he zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. "When I said we were a team, I was serious. Come on, Wendy. Let's go catch ourselves that alien."

We headed downstairs, fully equipped. Gaz still sat in the living room on the big red couch, an empty Bloaty's pizza box in front of her. She didn't bother to acknowledge us as she was preoccupied with a Game Slave 2. On our way out the front door, I turned and waved goodbye to her anyway. "Nice meeting you, Gaz." "Yep." she called after me.

Dib wasn't kidding about the factitious nature of Zim's base. The thing sat like a little blue mediocre doll house in between two other normal sized houses. A wooden fence was propped up in the front yard, which was strewn with several creepy looking lawn gnomes. Despite the goofy I Earth flag, it obviously wasn't enough to conceal the most unearthly thing about the "house", and that had to be the strange tubes protruding from either side like clusters of robotic tentacles, and hooking into the buildings it sat between. If that wasn't proof that alien life was lurking inside then I don't know what was.  
We tiptoed like mice up towards the front door. It looked like it had once belonged to a public bathroom given from the depicted male icon and the word MEN engraved underneath. Really, Zim? The fact that he considered that normal was laughable. Dib was already ahead of me about to wrench it open.  
"Wait!" I whispered. "We're just going to waltz right in? Doesn't Zim have some kind of built in security system?"  
"Sometimes," Dib explained. "But usually his robot minion guards the house and he's as dumb as a doorknob. He won't be difficult to get past. If Zim happens to be armed with any surprises then we can easily disarm him. Don't worry, Wendy we got this."

"Well...okay." I had to admit I was nervous about getting caught, but considering how many times Dib has successfully infiltrated Zim's base, he clearly knew his way around better than I did. He proceeded to open the door, which had surprisingly been left unlocked for some reason. Perched on the couch, staring vacantly at the TV was what I assumed to be the robot in which Zim referred to as GIR. You could tell from the visibly large zipper in front that the green dog suit he wore was as crummy a disguise as his master's. What really puzzled me was how the hell that thing could be packing away a plate of tequitos when he was clearly not a living creature with a functioning digestive system. Where was he putting them all? In some secret storing compartment or what?  
Finally becoming aware of our presence, the little robot "dog" sprang from his seat, spilling the remaining snacks as he waved excitedly while screaming, "HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" "Shhh!" Dib hissed angrily. GIR ignored his warning to stay quiet as he bounced over to me. Close up, he was no higher than my waist. He had to have been no more than three feet tall. Standing on his tippy toes, he placed his nubby little black paws on my belly as he looked me in the face. "Oooooooooooooohhhh!" he said, his eyes bugged in wild fascination as if I were a new toy to play with.

So far, he definitely seemed to be a lot less of a threat than Zim. "Hey there, little guy," I said, smiling down at him. Suddenly GIR stepped back and let out a scream, making both me and Dib jump. He then threw himself on the floor where he spun and rolled around in the strewn tequitos all the while screaming and laughing maniacally like some sort of happy retarded child. Dib placed his hands on his hips as he glared down at him, looking unamused. "He sure seems to like _you_," he said, shaking his head. "So here's the plan. There are six of these spy cams. We need to set up the first four in all the various rooms of the house such as the living room, kitchen, bathroom and hallway. The last two will go down in Zim's actual base, which is underground. If he's down there right now, we can listen in on whatever diabolical scheme he may be plotting next." "Sounds like a plan." I agreed.

After we had covered all the areas in the house, Dib lead me to a trap door hidden beneath an end table. Inside was a long cylinder shaped glass elevator. GIR jumped in after us, where he continued to ogle me as we descended into the bowels of the earth. When we finally reached our destination, the three of us stepped out into a twisted monstrosity of Irken technology. It was liked walking into one giant sci fi movie where everything was strange and unknown to me.  
Honestly, it was impossible tell what all the surrounding equipment and machinery was or what they were used for  
but knowing Zim, it couldn't be anything human friendly.

"PIGGY!" GIR suddenly shrieked. He darted ahead of us, grabbing up a rubber pig that had been lying on the floor before disappearing somewhere in the room. Not far off, we spotted Zim. This time, he wasn't disguised. He was standing with his back to us as he ranted furiously and made wild hand gestures at the massive computer screen in front of him. It displayed what looked to be a pair of fellow Irkens only much taller. One was dressed all in red and the other in purple. Their eye color matched their space aged outfits and both looked extremely bored as they munched on donuts.  
Wait...donuts? Since when did treats other than astronaut ice cream exist in space? Not only that but how are aliens the ones getting access to them? Looks like the Irken empire was one step ahead of NASA when it came to snacks. No freeze dried crap for them.

"We need to go up that wall," Dib whispered, pointing overhead. " Zim should be less likely to notice these cams if they're planted somewhere up high. They will be out of reach and out of sight. Plus, this way we can have a panoramic view of all activity in the base." Reaching into his backpack, he took out what looked like a grappling hook gun and fired it at the ceiling. It wrapped around a twisty metal suspending catwalk with a dull, distant _thunk!_ Dib tugged on the attached rope a few times to test its stability. When it seemed fastened enough, he turned to me and said, "Let's go."

Sticking to the shadows and much as possible, we took hold of the rope and scaled our way to the top. Fortunately, the walls were made up of enough coiled power cords to provide excellent footholds for my black converse sneakers, which would have barely gripped the surface of a smooth plaster wall. When we finally reached the top, we climbed onto the catwalk where Dib withdrew one of the cams and proceeded to attach it, angling it downward where it could focus on Zim. "Almost...got it," he said, teeth clenched in concentration. That was when the most random thing happened. Out of nowhere, some weird stuffed animal like creature flew towards us at a leisurely pace. As it came closer, I saw that it was a small purple moose with big eyes, short stumpy legs and nubby little antlers. I sat there shaking my head in disbelief. Aliens posing as hi skool students? robots who wear dog suits and engorge themselves with Mexican food? Purple floating moose? Now I've seen everything.

I wasn't sure if this was another minion of Zim's or simply a pet but this was actually kind of cute, especially as it chirped upon seeing us. Although, even if it did sound like a happy noise, it could have also been a possibility that the thing was cussing us out for bursting in on his master's dwellings or it could have been like GIR and didn't care and just felt like playing. The little moose squeaked again as it whizzed by me and headed straight for Dib, bonking him in the head. "Get away from me!" He batted the thing away as if it were an annoying gnat. I sympathized as the little moose sadly floated off elsewhere.  
"Hey Wendy, do you think you can take that last cam and install it at the other end of that catwalk while I finish with this one?"  
"Sure," I unzipped the backpack and started rummaging. Each compartment was filled with a wide range of devices, but nothing looked like a spy cam.

"Uh, Dib?" "Hmm?" "I don't think it's in here." "You're kidding!" He grabbed the backpack out of my grasp and started looking himself. "Oh no!" he said, smacking his palm to his forehead. "I must have left it up in the house! I have to go back and find it. In the meantime, will you stay here and finish up with this one?" "Of course." I said, reassuringly. "Great," he said. "Make sure Zim doesn't see you, okay? I'll be back in a minute." I nodded as he descended the rope back down towards the elevator.  
As I fiddled with the spy cam, I decided to take the time to really listen in on Zim's conversation with his superiors.  
"So you see, my Tallest," he was saying as he paced back and forth. "This child I've been telling you of, this Wendy appears to be allied with the Dib human. I suspect that the two of them are working against me and that could become a serious threat to my mission. The macroscopic headed boy is enough of an annoyance on his own but this little brat is insufferable!  
Last night, she was automatically able to identify my true self. She even summoned water to come up from the grass and attack me! Don't you see it? She has already figured out one of our weaknesses and unless she is stopped, she will find other ways to thwart me, especially if she's working with the strength of a duo! The loathsome little earth wretch is probably attempting to infiltrate my base as we speak!"  
I bit my lip. "These are all reasons why, my Tallest I need to devise with a plan to destroy her before she can wreak further havoc on me. For now, this will be my newest and foremost priority. I cannot yet overcome this planet until this vile beast girl is out of the way for good!"

"Uh huh," Tallest Red said tediously as he rested his chin on his clawed hand. "And you said she's...short?" "Yes, yes! So very short!" "Disgustingly short?" Red pressed. "Very!" instigated Zim. "Almost as short as Skooge!" "Ewww!" cringed Tallest Purple. "Well sheesh! It's bad enough that she's short to begin with but _that _short? That's just wrong. Zim, you have my full support in disposing of this human girl until you fail and we laugh at you." "Agreed." said Red.

Well, these guys were definitely off my Christmas list. In my offense to what was being said about me, the spy cam suddenly slipped out of my hands, plummeting to the floor. "Oh shit!" I gasped. Then to my horror, it ricocheted off of Zim's head and landed at his feet where it shattered into a million pieces. "What the...?" he asked, glancing around. His gaze turned up towards me and his bewilderment instantly turned to rage. "YOU!" Grabbing up Dib's backpack, I ran down the catwalk and descended the rope. "COMPUTER!" Zim commanded. "GRAB HER!" I retreated in the opposite direction as more robotic tentacles emerged from the walls, lunging for me. Then a wave of relief washed over me when I spotted a power switch.

The twisted machine was only seconds away from grabbing me by the ankles as I dove for it. I seized the lever, yanking down as hard as I could. The image of the confused Tallest clicked off the screen and the robot tentacles fell to the floor like dead snakes as the entire base turned pitch black. Thankfully, I was able to dig out the night vision goggles so I could locate the exit and finally get the hell out of here.  
"So you have shut off my power," Zim taunted. "That doesn't mean you can hide, little Wendy. It won't be hard to sniff out that sickeningly sweet human girl scent of yours. It's enough to make me wretch!"  
Well hey, it's not like I was the one who couldn't bathe. I could hear his voice growing louder as I hid under a table. "I know you're still in here, filthy stink beast! COME OUT AND FACE ZIM!" When he was finally close enough, I dropped down on all fours where I extended my right leg to the side, tripping him. "Ooof!" he grunted as he face planted into the floor.  
I quickly scrambled away before he could get up again. Unfortunately, I had to turn the power back on before I could get the elevator to work.

When I finally reached the house, I immediately jumped out into the living room. "Dib!" I called. "Dib where are you?" I ran all over, frantically searching each room but Dib was nowhere to be found. "DIB!" I bellowed again. Still no answer. Where the hell was that kid? Panic getting the best of me, I raced down the hallway next. "UNNNNFF!" Dib suddenly came sprinting from the opposite direction and as a result, we ended up in a violent collision that sent us crashing to the floor.  
I lay there on my back, seeing red stars as I rubbed my throbbing forehead. When the stars finally subsided, my heart froze when I saw that Dib had collapsed directly on top of me, his face inches from mine. I gasped as I came to realize that this could be the perfect opportunity to steal a kiss.

"S-sorry," he said, snapping out of his daze from getting hit in the head. Carefully, he climbed off of me and helped me to my feet. "Are you okay? What happened?" "I accidentally dropped the cam and it broke and Zim saw it and came after me," I mourned. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to screw everything up." Dib sighed and gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry about it. I can come back and finish this later. In the meantime, we should get out of here before Zim comes." He took my hand and we dashed out of the house and into the night. We were safe...for now.


	4. Chapter 4

I had to admit I was nervous about what Zim could be plotting. From his discussion with the Tallest, it definitely didn't seem like he was about to waste any time getting rid of me. If he was as hell bent on the idea as I imagined he was, especially now that I had infiltrated his base and witnessed everything, I found it only necessary to really watch my back from now on.

On Monday morning, I had asked my mom to drive me to 'skool' just to be extra cautious. I figured that Zim would wait until I was alone before making an attempt to attack me. At least this way, there was safety in numbers. "So how do you like it here so far?" she asked as we pulled into the parking lot. "Have you made any new friends yet? What's up?" "Um," I really didn't care to go into detail about all the craziness that had occurred while she was away so I decided to keep it as brief as possible.  
"Well, it's not as bad as I thought it would be and so far, I've made one friend." "Do tell!" she urged with interest. "His name is Dib. He loves to delve in paranormal study and he's very smart and very nice." "Ohhh," she drawled in that typical you-have-a-crush tone that most mothers do. I could feel my cheeks flush scarlet, which I knew did little to hide it.  
"Well, maybe we could invite him over for dinner some time. I'd love to meet this tall, dark and handsome paranormal investigator. He's handsome too, isn't he?" "I never said that."  
"So why are you blushing like that then?"  
"Mom!" my hands flew to my face and she laughed and pulled me into a hug. "Oh honey, I think it's great that you've found someone who makes you happy again. I don't see you go on dates too often."  
"Trust me mom, Dib and I are hardly dating." "Well, it's normal to start out as friends first. Then as you get to know each other, who knows? Things might become deeper between the two of you if you really wish on it." "I guess," I said, staring out the window at the gloomy gray day. "Just think about dinner together, okay honey? We can plan it whenever you want but in the meantime, please mention the idea to Dib, okay?"  
"Okay, sure," I grabbed my book bag and climbed out of the car, shutting the door behind me. "Thanks for the ride, mom." I said as she rolled the window down. "You're welcome, honey," she called, waving. "Have a good day!" I watched as she drove away down the street before heading up to the 'skool'.

Besides the fact that it was open season on me for Zim, the other thing that was still gnawing at my brain was mine and Dib's almost kiss. Fortunately, I still had some time before first period began, so I decided to sit out on the bleachers and compose some love poems to pour my heart out of these feelings that were brimming within. If aliens were smart, there was no way they would attack a human in broad daylight while a group of jocks practiced their sport out on the football field below, so I wasn't too worried. While doing my best to drown out the shouts of "Throw it here, Torque!" I uncapped my red fountain pen and began to write.  
_My raven haired Adonis  
how can the world go about its day when Heaven is upon us?  
When such beauty haunts my dreams  
filling them with shooting stars and celestial moonbeams?  
You have won me over with such sweet rapture  
your lonely heart I long to capture  
Your touch makes me quiver with feelings oh so divine  
Oh how I'd love nothing more than to make you mine_

"Hi there!" a bubbly male voice suddenly made me jump, causing me to drop my notebook as I nearly toppled over with it. "Jeez!" I turned to see a freckled kid with curly red hair and bright green eyes. He wore a sky blue shirt with a rainbow across it with skinny jeans and red and white Converse on his feet. "Sorry," he giggled as he caught me by the arm to help keep me steady. "Didn't mean to startle you. Here, let me get that." He bent to retrieve the notebook from the metal bleacher in front of us.  
I tried to snatch it up before he could touch it and see the contents it held within but he was too quick for me.  
"Here you go," he handed it to me with a friendly smile. "My name is Keef. I saw you sitting here by yourself and just thought I'd come over and say hi. You're new, right?"

"Uh yes I am," I said, taking the notebook from him and slipping it into my book bag. "Nice to meet you Keef. I'm Wendy."  
"Nice to meet you too Wendy," he said pleasantly. "So what were you writing just now?"  
"Oh nothing special. Just finishing up some homework for Bitters." He gave me a puzzled look and scratched his curly carrot topped head. "That's funny. I don't remember getting assigned any homework from her class on Friday." Nice one Wendy. "Oh," I improvised. "Well, it was for extra credit." To my relief, Keef looked satisfied with my excuse. "Oh okay. That makes sense."  
"So," I continued to drag him further away from the subject. "Tell me about yourself, Keef. What are some of your hobbies and interests?" He seemed touched by my attempt to get to know him better. "Me? Oh well I enjoy theater arts and going to the renaissance fair and video games but not the ones with a lot of blood and violence. I prefer the happier ones over those." "So I guess that leaves out _Silent Hill_, right?" He shuddered at the name. "Are you kidding? I would have nightmares for weeks! But other than that, I also really like animals, especially hamsters and puppies. I'm lactose intolerant and I enjoy making new friends but for some reason they never seem to stick around. They either move away or just stop hanging out with me."

I shot him a surprised look. "Really? They would move away without staying in touch or just decide you're all not friends anymore? That's pretty crappy." He smiled and shrugged. "It's not a total loss. If they don't want my companionship I can always offer it to someone else in need of a friend. Like you." Before I could express my gratitude for his kindness towards me, the bell rang and we proceeded to make our way down the bleachers. Keef draped an arm around my shoulders as if we had been best buddies for years. "Come on, Wendy. I'll walk you to class. I want to hear all about you on the way also."

At lunchtime, I stood there scanning the crowded cafeteria for Dib but he was nowhere to be seen among the sea of students.  
"Sorry, excuse me," I said as I began elbowing my way through. Frantically, my eyes darted every which way. Still there was no sign of Dib or any other familiar faces. That was until I tripped over someone. "Watch it!" a disdainful female voice shouted. As I lay sprawled on the floor, I looked to see a sour faced cheerleader with long blonde hair glaring down at me. "These sneakers are brand new so don't you dare scuff them with your idiotic clumsiness, you freak!" She turned to one of her fellow squad members and a knot of dread formed in the pit of my stomach as I recognized the snide little smirk and lavender hair.  
"Is this the one you've been telling me about?" Zita's baby doll eyes darkened scornfully and she nodded. "It certainly is, Jessica. Stay away from her. She's already been contaminated with Dib cooties, which means she'll most likely become a raving lunatic like him."

"Wendy!" A tiny wave of relief washed over me when Keef came bustling over to me. "I've been looking all over for you! Are you okay?" He offered me his hand and pulled me to my feet. "Eww!" Jessica cringed. "First para sci fi boy and now the human suction cup? You're so totally right, Zita. If this is the kind of company she keeps then she really must be avoided like the plague. Come on girls, let's get out of here before we all catch a serious case of unpopularity." And with that, she led the entourage away in a black and purple uniformed single file line. "Bye ladies!" Keef called after them, waving like a teenaged Mr. Rogers. "Hope you have a wonderful day!"

A few cheerleaders turned to roll their eyes at him and continued onward, clearly annoyed their attempt to belittle him had been an epic fail. "Kill them with kindness," I observed. "Nice work, Keef. You really handled that well." "Oh I'm nice to everyone," he said. "Even when someone is rude what would be the point in acting out the same in return? Not only does it not solve anything but I'd only be stooping to their level, right?" "You're a pretty wise kid." I complimented. His pale cheeks flushed slightly. "Thanks. So hey, do you want to have lunch together?" "Umm," "Hey! Wendy!" My heart leapt as I finally spotted Dib sitting with Gaz at a table against the back wall and waving to me. "Over here!" "How about next time, Keef?" I said. "I'm actually supposed to be meeting someone right now."  
"Okay, that's fine," he said cheerfully. "I have to head to the library to finish up a book report anyway so my lunch break is going to be cut short for me I'm afraid but hey, let's exchange contact information before we part ways." "Sure." I said. He withdrew a cell phone from his back pocket and extracted it from its colorful case and I did the same. After punching in each others' numbers, home addresses, etc he gave me a quick hug and we bid one another farewell as I headed over to join Dib and Gaz.

"Hey guys." I said as I sat down. Dib greeted me with yet another stunning smile followed by a "Hi Wendy." while Gaz on the other hand kept her eyes glued to her Game Slave 2 and just gave an irritated grunt. "So," I started, trying my best to ignore the toxic hatred his sister was emitting towards me. "What's the story with Zim so far?"  
"Well, I noticed he was ducking in and out of class a lot," said Dib. "Which could only mean he's plotting something against us."  
"Or me," I said miserably. "He even said so himself. He vowed to the Tallest that he was going to come up with a way to get rid of me so that I won't interfere with his plans for world domination." "Well, he's going to have to get rid of me first," declared Dib.  
"And we both know that will never happen. So don't worry Wendy. We're a team and together we'll find out what he's up to and put a stop to it and the world will thank us. By the way, you're smart not to eat the cafeteria food."  
He nodded towards my brown bagged lunch as I set it down on the table. I gave him a curious look."Is it really that bad?"  
"Only when it causes someone's liver to turn up missing." Gaz suddenly teased, a dark smile playing over her lips as she looked up at me for a brief second. Dib rolled his eyes at her. "That was Zim's doing! Don't you remember in elementary school? How he had gone around harvesting organs from everyone and replacing them with inanimate objects? How he stole my lungs and replaced it with some stupid cow thing? It was _not _easy getting my lungs back and even worse, I was dubbed as the Hideous Mooing Cyborg Boy!"

"How could I forget that?" Gaz snorted as she resumed playing her game. "Well, I'm glad you find that so amusing." Dib said sarcastically. "You mean," I started worriedly. "Zim actually did something like that?" Dib's expression turned grim. "Yes Wendy. That other night when he tried to take your brain, that wasn't the first time he's attempted that. He was so desperate to appear human that he used alien technology to steal the organs of several students and teachers so that he could hoard them for himself and trick the school nurse when sent to her office. The worst part was he succeeded and he got away with it."

I took a bite from my tofu sandwich but it was difficult to swallow past the lump of dread in my throat. If Zim was serious about doing away with me, I really hoped he wasn't planning on resuming what he tried to do with me when he first officially met and that he would leave my organs out of the equation. "Dib?" I asked. "Do you think maybe I could come over again today after 'skool'? I just think I'd feel safer at your place if I hung out with you there for a few hours." His smile was kind. "Sure! Just meet us out front and you can walk home with us. That way, we can plan out our next move. Hopefully, we'll figure something out before _Mysterious Mysteries _starts. You'll probably want to go home by then and not want to have to sit through that." My eyes widened with interest. "Are you kidding? I love that show! I'll stay and watch that with you for sure." Dib raised his eyebrows in utter astonishment. "Really? That's great! I-I can't believe we actually have this much in common. This is just...so cool!"  
"Oh...brother." Gaz muttered from the far end of the table. Suddenly feeling satisfied, I finished the last of my lunch, crumpled the paper bag into a ball and stood up. "I'm going to throw this away," I announced. "Be right back." I spotted a trash can against the wall across the cafeteria and started for it. Then I stopped in my tracks. Zim sat alone at a nearby table, scrutinizing and poking a green Jello mold with a plastic fork as if he were dissecting a frog in biology class. "GAAAH!" As it jiggled in response, he let out a frightened yelp and dove under the table. Slowly, his head reemerged halfway so that only his eyes peered over the edge as he continued to watch the strange food suspiciously. In spite of the fact that I couldn't blame him for distrusting any type of food that moved, it was a hilarious sight. Normally, I would have stood there laughing at him but for now, I wanted to get around him as quickly as possible and just dispose of my trash and remain unnoticed so I crept behind him and made a beeline for my destination.

When my business was finished, I started to head back towards Dib and Gaz when all of a sudden a hand gripped me around the wrist, pulling me backwards. I turned to find myself looking into the face of Zim, his eyes glinting maliciously through his contacts and his mouth curled into a serrated toothed grin. "Very sneaky, little Wendy," he taunted. "But not sneaky enough."  
"What the hell do you want?" I asked, annoyed yet cautiously. "Oh I just simply wanted to inform you that my plans to destroy you and the Dib monkey are going along quite swimmingly," he said. "In fact, they are so flawless, so intricately designed and so devastating that even I am amazed by my own brilliance." "Get over yourself," I said, rolling my eyes. "And what exactly are your so called 'plans' for us?" His laugh was so loud and harsh that it could be heard even throughout the noisy cafeteria, drawing the attention of several students. "Foolish little girl! Do you honestly think Zim is going to tell YOU his secrets, especially his most secret of all secret plans?" "Okay, okay! I get it, it's a secret! But whatever you're planning on doing with Dib, keep in mind that you have to go through me first because there's no way I'm letting you touch him." Zim's smile widened at my challenge. "Oh you know that I fully intend to do just that. Don't worry, little Wendy. You'll find out soon enough what Zim has in store for you and how he's going to a stop to your miserable little existence, and soon Dib will follow-" Before he could finish trolling me, I picked up the Jello in its styro foam bowl and smooshed it in his face before walking away. A few students, including Dib pointed and laughed while Zim clawed at his face, screaming "MY EYES! MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE!"

"That had to have been the funniest thing I've seen all day!" Dib told me later that evening in his room. He stood doubled over, chuckling deeply as he recalled the scene earlier today in the cafeteria. "Well," I said. "He deserved it." I heavily plopped down onto his neatly made bed where I removed my winter coat and scarf and set them beside me. The day had seemed to go on endlessly, which was exhausting so I was relieved and excited to once again be at the Membrane residence.

"That he did," said Dib. "What was he saying to you anyway?" I shrugged. "The usual 'I'm a big bad alien, I'm going to destroy you and your measly little planet and there's nothing you can do about it, blah blah blah' sort of thing." "So he said nothing important?" Dib inquired like a detective. "Well, he did say he's supposedly devised a plan already to stop us but obviously, he wouldn't tell me what it was." "Which means we're going to have to come up with a way to make him spill the beans," he said as he started pacing around the room. "Or maybe the surveillance system we set up will tell us something. Either way, we need to stop him before he can act on whatever he plans to do." Before I could answer, another voice beckoned from the computer. "Agent Mothman. Come in, Agent Mothman." "What? Mothman?" I wondered aloud. Dib strode over to the mysterious man who appeared on the screen, apparently through a web cam. His face couldn't be seen as it was completely shrouded in darkness so that he looked like some sort of shadow figure silhouetted against an unknown background. The only features you could really make out were a pair of red almond shaped eyes and a goatee on his pointy chin. "Mothman," His voice was unnaturally deep as though it had been modified so that it could remain unidentifiable. "Agent Darkbooty here. Have you reinstalled those spy cams inside the alien's base like you said you were going to?"

"Most of them," Dib replied. "One of them got um...lost but it's nothing I can't solve. It's a process that will be finished in no time and you'll all soon witness what I've been telling you about." "Excellent, then you-" "Wait a minute," I started. "Did he just say his name was Agent Dark_booty_?" The man paused once he became aware of my presence and eyed me defensively. "Yes?" I couldn't help bursting into laughter. His red eyes narrowed as he grew even more annoyed with me for making fun of his name. "I'm sorry," I said once I managed to catch my breath. "It's just a funny name is all." "Agent Darkbooty," Dib said, trying his best to remain stone faced. "This is my friend Wendy. She's also my partner who is helping me on these paranormal escapades."  
"Charmed," the cryptic man responded sarcastically. "Is this the kind of impression she will be making on _all_ of the members of the Swollen Eyeball Network as well?" "Sorry," I said, confused. "The Swollen what?" Agent Darkbooty heaved a tedious sigh, indicating his patience with me was now spent. "Perhaps you could help her to see past her ignorance on this one, Mothman."  
Well, we sure got off on the right foot now, didn't we? "The Swollen Eyeball Network," explained Dib. "Is a secret organization designed to investigate paranormal activities and expose anyone associated. There are six agents of the group, Darkbooty and myself included. We also go by aliases aside from our real names. For example, I go by Mothman."  
"That's very fascinating." I said honestly. Dib paused for a moment. Then spoke again as an idea suddenly struck him.  
"Hey. Wendy, you should join the Swollen Eyeballs!" "I should?" "Yes! We could use more members and you'd be great! You've got stealth, courage, brains, spunk, all the potential we need." I could feel myself melting inside from the warmth of his compliments even as Darkbooty glowered at me disapprovingly. An ecstatic smile played its way across my face and I nodded in agreement. "I would be honored to become a fellow Swollen Eyeball."

"Great," Dib said, thrilled. "Now all we need to do is figure out your name." "How about Agent Bride of Frankenstein?"  
Darkbooty chimed in, snidely. "She definitely looks the part seeing how frizzed up her hair looks from the rain over there."  
Even obscured in the darkness, it became apparent that he shouldn't talk due to the receding hairline he had himself. It was almost tempting to retaliate with such an insult but since I was already the one who pissed him off first, I bit my tongue and focused on my new name. "Butterfly," I decided. "Agent Butterfly."

Finally the clock struck midnight, and Dib and I were camped out on the big red comfy couch ready to watch _Mysterious Mysteries_. Even though we were sitting a good three foot distance apart, the thought of being on a couch with a boy I liked made my palms sweat. Tonight's show featured vampire babies who had bitten nurses in hospitals after being delivered. We were only five minutes into the episode when my phone started ringing. Confused, I withdrew it from my pocket and viewed the caller ID. Keef. What was he doing calling me at this hour? You'd think a kid like him would be in bed by nine on a school night. I decided to just brush it off and let it go to voicemail. A few more minutes into the show, it rang again. Then a third time.  
Dib cocked an eyebrow at me. "Who keeps calling you? Your mom? Does she want you home?" "No, no," I said, silencing my phone. "It's just a friend. I'll call them back later." "You sure?" "Yeah, I'm sure."

Despite the subject of undead infants attacking people, the rest of the episode turned out to be disappointingly not that exciting. In fact, it was so boring that when I turned to look over at Dib, I saw that he had fallen asleep during the last ten minutes of the show, and what an angelic sight he was. I would have loved nothing more than to take a picture of him to have on my phone but then I remembered that the flash would probably wake him and it would turn out too dark if I left it off. So I did the craziest next best thing any stalker girl would do. Slowly, I scooted closer until I was lightly snuggled against him and my head was resting on his shoulder. Then just as I was reaching my hand up towards his hair, my phone vibrated noisily in my pocket, startling me.  
"Friggin' Keef!" I whispered. Taking it out, I viewed the text message on the screen.

**Hey Wendy!  
It was great meeting you today. I can't wait for us to hang out again at school tomorrow :)  
Have a spectacular night.  
Keef  
**  
Well that was thoughtful. As I eased my phone back into my pocket, I resumed where I left off. Carefully, I grabbed hold of Dib's jagged spike of hair and began to caress it gently. The touch of silken raven was enough to make my fingers sing. It felt stiff from being done up with lots of gel or hair spray yet soft and sensual. For a little longer, I continued to loving pet his hair while Dib lay there snoring softly. That was until I noticed from of my peripheral vision that someone was watching me. I turned and gaped in utter dismay. Gaz stood at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and disgust at the sight of me fondling her sleeping brother. One could only determine how long she had been there. Instantly, I slid to the other side of the couch. I didn't know what else to do other than smile awkwardly. "Umm...hi Gaz. I was just-" before I could finish, she held up both hands signaling me to stop before saying, "I'm not even going to ask." She then made her way back upstairs where she slammed her bedroom door shut with a colossal bang. Sighing heavily, I flung myself back against the couch cushions, hands flying to conceal my now beet red face. Will I ever stop embarrassing myself? **  
**


	5. Chapter 5

I wasted no time leaving after tonight's awkward incident. Not only did Gaz now know my deepest darkest secret but she was probably going to tell Dib. I wasn't ready for him to discover my true feelings for him just yet especially like this and now the relationship between his sister and I was about to become even weirder and more uncomfortable than before. I couldn't help but dread my next encounter with both of them.

I was about to call my mom to see if she could give me a lift home but then I remembered that she would most likely be asleep at 1am so I decided to head back on foot in spite of my chances of running into Zim. Of course I would have felt a lot safer if I was armed with a water gun. Or even a bucket of Jello. The streets were as eerily silent as before when Dib and I first walked to his house together. Looking back on that moment, it turned out to be a very pleasant experience. Now that I was out by myself tonight, I just felt uneasy.

Pulling my scarf tightly around my neck, I quickened my pace to a power stride. The sooner I arrived home and was free from the cold, the better. Suddenly there came a soft rustling from some nearby bushes. With a gasp, I came to an abrupt halt, eyeing them cautiously from afar. I waited for any further signs of life. The rustling came again and finally a small dark shape sprang into view and I breathed a sigh of relief as a black cat darted in front of me, stopping at the edge of the sidewalk. "Hi kitty," I whispered as I kneeled down towards it. "What are you doing out here so late? You should be home curled up in front of a nice warm fireplace not wandering around out in the cold like me." The cat turned its head in a strangely almost mechanical like way. It blinked its large glowing red eyes at me curiously before turning to dash into an alley way. I suddenly felt the strangest inclination to follow it. Into the darkened alley, I went, carefully stepping over piles of old newspapers and turned trashcans until I reached a dead end. The cat stood at the graffiti covered brick wall, arching its back defensively as its mouth opened in an angry hiss and uttered several deep guttural growls.

"It's okay, kitty," I soothed. "I'm not going to hurt you." "MiMi," a disembodied female voice suddenly said. "It isn't polite to hiss at strangers." I watched in surprise as the cat leapt into the arms of a tall slender girl who suddenly stepped out from the shadows. She had dark blue hair in which she wore in a bob cut and was dressed in a tailcoat style dress of blue and purple stripes and steel toed cyber goth boots. Dotted beneath her left eye was a little black beauty mark. Her heavily gray shadowed eyes narrowed questioningly at me as a slight bitter half smile played across her lips. "Uh sorry," I said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to traumatize your cat. I just saw her roaming the streets without a collar and thought she might have been a stray." Her gaze was so sharp and intimidating that I eventually had to look away."Oh she'll be fine," the girl finally said, waving a dismissive hand at me.

"She's quite the independent creature. However, I can't thank you enough for caring for her safety." There was a slight accent in her voice that sounded almost British. "Name's Tak by the way," She extended a pale hand and I nearly jumped when I grasped it. It was as though electrical currents of ice were coursing deep within her very being, shocking me on contact and nearly sending me into bouts of seizures. Normally, I would have blamed this sort of thing on the freezing night air but I could have sworn I had been fine up until I came in contact with this strange girl. "I-I'm Wendy," I said, still trying to shake the uncomfortable sensation from my bones. "Wendy Carlson." The girl called Tak gave a sweet smile that was mixed with undertones of tartness as she said like a disapproving mother, "So what are you doing gallivanting the streets at this time of night by yourself, sweetie?" "Well, I wasn't exactly gallivanting," I said. "I was just...walking home from a friend's house. And what's your excuse?" She shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh I simply left my dorm in search of that darned cat of mine. She simply dreads being cooped up too long while I'm away at classes."  
"So you're in college?" I asked surprised. "Mm hmm," Tak nodded. "Just transferred to university here. I only arrived in the city about two days ago." "Really? From where?"  
"Devastis." I gave her an odd look."Where?" "Erm, I mean Davenport. Davenport, England." "I figured you had to be somewhere from the U.K. Are you an exchange student?" "Yes," she said, glancing off to the side then back to me again. "Something like that."

"Oh...that's cool," I paused for a moment before breaking the awkward silence between us. "Well, I'm glad you found your cat but I better get going. Nice meeting you uh, Tak." I spun on my heel and started to leave. "Hold up, dearie," Tak's voice suddenly stopped me in my tracks and I turned towards her once more. "I'm supposed to attend a group meeting with fellow students to work on an assignment but because I'm new I haven't really gotten the chance to become acquainted with anyone yet. Since you're the first person to have formally introduced yourself ever so kindly, I wondered if you would care to join me?"  
"I don't know, Tak," I said. "It's a school night for me. I'm still in high school. Besides isn't it a little late to be working on class work right now?" "It is but these students apparently prefer to procrastinate up until the last minute so it appears we will have to pull an all nighter for this one. Of course you won't have to stay that long. What do you say?" I hesitated as I debated on the idea with myself. There was always the risk that my mom would find out that I had been out most of the night and possibly ground me for exceeding my ten o'clock curfew. Then again I had already exceeded it since I stayed at Dib's until midnight and since she usually goes to bed around nine she would have no way of knowing I was out this late if I quietly snuck in. This was also a good opportunity to make a new girl friend, considering the fact that most of the girls at school hadn't taken too kindly to me since my arrival and I really doubted that Gaz and I were going to become BFF's any time soon. In the end, I realized that when it came to moving to a new city where you don't know anybody and feel alienated that Tak and I were pretty much in the same boat so I decided that since she's already opening up to me that maybe I should give her a chance.  
"Well, okay. But I need to be home by at least two." "That will do," Tak smiled. "I'm sure one of them  
can give you a lift there when you're ready. Come on. We shouldn't keep them waiting much longer as they will grow quite uppity with me."  
Tak linked her arm with mine as we made our way out of the alley and MiMi sat perched on top of her shoulder where she continued looking daggers at me the whole way.

"A night club?" I asked when we finally reached our destination. "Hardly a quiet place to study. Don't you think?" "Oh you know how college life is," Tak replied. "Nothing more than one big party, which is why they've all chosen to congregate here rather than the peaceful campus library or even a nice little cafe'." "Point made," I agreed. "I guess everyone figures that it equals a quiet night just because they're here during a week night." "Exactly." We approached the open double door entrance where there blared the distorted bass of some dubstep tune. A bald, burly six foot tall bouncer who was built like a professional wrestler blocked our path. "ID ladies?" he demanded. "Uh sure," I said as I began to gingerly dig through my book bag.  
"Just give me a sec." Tak on the other hand ignored the man and proceeded to step around him in attempt to quickly duck inside. "Hey!" he barked, seizing her by the arm. "Nobody is allowed in without showing me some ID! Do I make myself clear?" Tak turned as she glared up at the man with venom in her eyes.  
There was suddenly a strange shift that played over them before she commanded, "You will release me and you will let us pass at once! Do I make _my_self clear?" To my surprise, the bouncer obediently loosened his grip on her arm and said, "Yes, I'm sorry miss. You and your friend may go right in."  
Tak's mouth curled into a dangerous smile. "That's better," She continued her way inside while I stood back looking dumbfounded from her to the trance stricken bouncer.  
When she saw that I had not followed her in, she turned back towards me and asked impatiently, "Are you coming?" I nodded quickly before hurrying in after her.

"What was _that_?" I yelled over the loud music. "What was what?" Tak asked innocently. "You know! What you did to that bouncer out there?" "Oh that was just a little hypnotism trick. I learned it in psych class." "You mean they actually teach you those kinds of things?" I asked in disbelief "Of course!" Tak replied almost defensively. "What good would it do to major in psychology if one doesn't learn how to successfully manipulate and alter a patient's mind?" "But don't you think you're abusing it just a little too much?" Tak rolled her eyes. "Wendy dear, your petty concerns are beginning to bore me. I'm simply here to take care of a little business and I would appreciate it if I could finish these things quickly without any further interferences." "Okay, sorry." I said, taken aback by her sudden change of attitude.

Her features softened slightly as she breathed a relenting sigh. "No sweetheart, _I'm _the one who should be sorry. In spite of your busy schedule, you have taken the time to be here for me and here I am snapping at you as a result of my own hectic college life. I suppose the stress of earning my degree is finally beginning to bottle at the neck."  
"It must be really tough." I said sympathetically. "Be grateful you don't have this awful pressure on you Wendy." "Believe me," I conceded. "High school has all of its own pressures so be grateful you don't have to deal with _that _anymore." "I suppose you're right," Tak draped an arm around my shoulder as we wandered further into the club. "I like you, Wendy and even though we've just met, I would like to say that I most definitely see you as becoming very useful to me, you know as a potential friend."  
I gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks Tak. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that because you see, I'm new in this city myself and haven't made many friends so far. So I'm definitely looking forward to hanging out with you more as well."  
We ascended a spiral staircase that led to the second floor. Under the dancing strobe lights, Tak's smile was a mixture of dark and sweet. "Likewise."


	6. Chapter 6

In spite of not having spent the night downing drinks, I had awoken the next morning to a massive headache and an unexplained case of brain fog. After leaving Dib's house, I could only recall so many of last night's events. Meeting Tak and her eccentric college buddies who in a strangely ambitious way were studying various subjects that all seemed to be based on astronomy.  
Other than that, everything else that happened after just seemed so hazy. Jeez, if that was kind of effect night clubs had on people  
when sober, I hated to imagine what it would be like for those boozing it up every night. I'm sure it would only be fun while it lasted.

Head feeling like cement, I rolled onto my side an looked towards the clock. "Oh...great." I was supposed have left for school twenty minutes ago. With an agitated groan, I groggily climbed out of bed and headed for the  
bathroom at a zombie's pace. I figured that since I was already late that I might as well ought to shower to  
wake me up some before I left.

The steaming hot water worked wonders for me as it cascaded over my tired skin. Even though I was still slightly drowsy due to my lack of sleep, I thankfully at least no longer felt like an old lady. Nothing like citrus body wash to snap you out of your morning grog. I also made a mental note to grab a strong cup of coffee on the way out.  
"Good morning Wendy!" A brightly familiar voice suddenly exclaimed.  
"Jesus!" The shampoo bottle slipped out of my grasp, clattering loudly against the tub as I whirled around towards the source. I then grabbed the shower curtain, immediately wrapping it around myself as a carrot topped head poked through the open window. "Keef!" I scolded as I gripped the peach colored vinyl tightly. "Are you crazy? What are you doing up there?"  
Keef only greeted my annoyed glare with a friendly smile, clearly oblivious to the fact that he was creeping in on a naked girl showering. "I was waiting for you outside your house so we could walk to school together but you never came out. I tried the doorbell but there was no answer so when I had gone around to the back, I heard the shower running and thought I'd climb up the tree outside your bathroom window and let you know I was here."  
What. The. Hell.  
"Okay," I tried to reply casually, despite being freaked out. "Tell you what, I'm just going to um, finish up here and I'll be out in a minute." "Sure, sure!" he said. "Take your time." He carefully started his way down the tree. "And Keef?" I said, stopping him.  
"Yes, Wendy?"  
"Next time maybe just wait for me outside?"  
"Okay, no problem," he smiled pleasantly before continuing his way down.  
"Oh! And that's a nice dress by the way!"  
I sighed as his final words called out to me from below the window.

I was sitting in class when my cell phone vibrated. Extracting it from my pocket, I held it below my desk to view the text so Ms. Bitters wouldn't see.  
**Wendy Doll,  
Can you meet up with me as soon as your school lets out?  
Got an important horticulture project I need to attend to  
and could really use the help. Oh and had a great time with you last night btw.  
xoxo  
Tak  
** As quietly as I could, I began texting my reply.  
**Hey Tak,  
Yes, that sounds like fun. My school lets out around 3.  
Had a great time hanging out last night too.  
Wendy**

Just as I hit 'send' there was suddenly an ear splitting sound on my desk similar to wood snapping. In spite of my growing fear, I glanced up. Ms. Bitters loomed over me, the splintered remains of a ruler in hand as she glared down at me like the Red Queen ready to behead someone. "No texting in my classroom Wendy!" she hissed. "I will assign you detention, should I catch you doing it again, and I will see that it is one like you've never endured."  
"Sorry Ms. Bitters." was all I could muster in a mousey voice.  
She gave a tight smile of satisfactory that really looked more like a grimace before resuming her lesson.  
I could hear Zita and a group of kids sniggering from behind while Dib sat watching me with condolence.

Finally, the last period was over and everyone spilled out into the halls to enjoy their few hours of freedom. "Hey Wendy, wait up!" I turned to see Dib striding to catch up with me. A knot of dread formed in the pit of my stomach when I saw Gaz dawdling not far behind. "Hey." I said nervously once they were within earshot. "Hey," he said pleasantly. "So did you make it home  
okay last night? I noticed you arrived at school kind of late." "Oh," For a moment, I dropped my gaze to the floor  
to avoid Gaz's detesting glare. "Um, yeah I did. Thanks for asking. I just got home late so I ended up sleeping in was all."  
He nodded. "I get it. So are you walking home with us today? The Swollen Eyeballs have requested that we check in  
with them." "Oh. Well, actually I have to meet up with a friend right now. Could I maybe stop by later? I shouldn't  
be more than a couple of hours." "She probably has someone else's hair to stroke." Gaz chimed in.  
Dib gave his sister a puzzled look. "What?" I rolled my eyes. "Ignore her. So would that be okay? I don't want it to be  
an inconvenience if we have urgent business to attend to." "No, that's fine. You just come over when you're done and  
we'll continue with the Zim stuff from there, okay?"  
"Okay great," I waved goodbye to them as we parted ways. "Catch you later."

The halls were already deserted by the time I reached my locker. Spinning the combination lock, I pulled it open and threw in some books before shutting it again. I then turned to see a green face only inches from mine.  
"You know," I said. "If you're going to go around stalking people, you should pick up some tips from Keef. At least he's charming."  
Minus the shower scenario.  
"Don't flatter yourself, loathsome little earth wretch," sneered Zim. "I have no desire to charm you although I must  
admit stalking you has been quite an entertaining pastime these last few days. The fear and discomfort you've exhibited  
in my presence has been a thrill, yes well it will be even more rewarding once I have you ensnared and pleading  
for your life."

"Yeah, okay," I said sarcastically. "So when are you actually planning on destroying me Zim? Really, the suspense is  
killing me." He gave a sadistic smile that made my blood boil. "Oh believe me. That won't be the only thing killing you.  
I swear it. You'll find out soon enough, earthling. Promise."  
Casually, he reached up to scratch his neck and my eyes grew wide as they fixated on the cluster of boils there.  
"Hey," I started. "What's wrong with your neck?" "Oh this?" He said, pointing to the affected area. "It's nothing. Just a minor case of acne is all. Nothing you haven't seen before." He continued to scratch at his irritated skin causing a few of the pimples to erupt with green and yellow pus. "Ughhh!" I cringed as some of it splashed onto my bare arm. "Gross Zim! Get some Acne Blast for that before it spreads to everyone else in the school!" I rummaged in my book bag for a sanitizing wipe. Finally, I located one but before it could touch my arm, the pus had suddenly absorbed into my skin and I gasped. Zim stood there, a smug grin on his face  
as my panic grew. In frustration, I wadded up the unused wipe and chucked it at him. "I'm out of here."  
My footsteps echoed loudly as I stormed down the empty hall toward the exit. Wrenching open one of the double doors, I let myself out, shutting it behind me with a massive bang.

As soon as I met up with Tak, she seemed happy to see me, even greeted me with a hug. Afterwards, we drove  
towards our destination in silence for some reason. I sat in the passenger's seat, looking out the window most of the way as the surroundings changed from urban civilization to rural farm life. Dawn of Ashes emitted from the radio.  
Tearing my eyes from the pastures of cows and dilapidated barns, I looked over at Tak. She gripped the stirring wheel tightly, her blue hair dramatically framed her face as she focused on the road, her jaw set determinedly.  
"Hey," I started, breaking the silence. "You okay?" "Huh?" At the sudden sound of my voice, she turned to me  
with a bewildered glance. "Oh yes, I was just...thinking." "About what?" I asked.  
"About where we're going to do this. There should be a spot coming up here any moment now."

"So why are we going all the way to the outskirts of town to do this?" "Because there's more vacant space out here than in the city,"  
explained Tak. "And besides, this place could use a bit of plant life." "I guess you're right," I said, looking out at the dead trees  
and grass. The land was definitely bereft of greenery.

We parked just outside a field that was large enough to play football in. There, we opened up the trunk of Tak's unusual looking car where we took out several even more unusual looking plants. They looked to be a greenish fungi emitting an offensive odor that smelled strongly of sulphur and rotting fruit. "Sorry about the smell," said Tak. "They get like that when they're fertile. All the more reason to get them in the ground." "What are these things?" I choked. "They smell awful!"  
"They're just a rare type of mushroom is all. Fortunately for you they don't grow all year round."  
"Ugh, I really hope not."

Thirty minutes later, we were finished and on our way home to the city. "I have to meet a friend when we get back,"  
I said. "Do you think you could drop me off at his house?"  
"Sure thing sweetie," said Tak. "And thank you again for helping me out with this. I know it was no picnic for you  
but you were the only one who I could enlist. My classmates all refused to do this kind of dirty work but now  
thanks to you, I should be passing the class while they most likely will have to repeat it."  
"I'll admit it was horrible," I laughed. "But I'm glad I could help you get it done. So hey, do you maybe want to hang out  
with us tonight? I could text my friend and ask him if it's okay."  
Tak gave an appreciative half smile. "Thank you for the invite, Wendy but I really must get back to my dorm and  
continue with my studies." "Don't you ever get a break? It seems like you're always studying. You should have  
some fun once in a while." "Yes, I know but not tonight, dearie. I'll let you know when I'm free again but in the meantime,  
I'll get you over to your friend's house."

"So my mom wants you to come over for dinner sometime," I told Dib later that evening. We were on his rooftop, where we had been instructed by the Swollen Eyeballs to patrol for further signs of extraterrestrial activity. "Does she?" Dib replied not looking away from the telescope. "If you don't want to," I said. "Then that's cool. I just thought I'd bring it up."  
"No, no. I'd love to meet your mom. When would you like to like to do it?" I shrugged. "I don't know, Friday?"  
"Yeah, sure Friday's great. Other than delving into my paranormal research I don't have much of a schedule planned."

"Okay, cool. I'll let my mom know we've decided on Friday then. I should probably warn you though that we're a couple  
of crazy vegans so you might have to settle for rabbit food."  
"I'm sure I'll like it," Dib said with a laugh. "I'm not _that _finicky when it comes to eating." I laughed too. "Well, that's good.  
So are you seeing anything yet?" "Zilch," Dib replied miserably. "I don't even know why we're wasting our time on this  
when there's a real alien walking around at our school and living right here in our city. I suspect it's just the Swollen Eyeballs' way of telling me they're sick of my rants about Zim." "At least it's a pretty night though." I reassured him as I lay back  
to look up at the stars. "Yeah, it is," he agreed, stepping back from the telescope to look to the sky himself.  
"I seem to get so wrapped up in finding the truth out there that I take the beauty of the surrounding universe for granted at times.  
It's not very often I stop to embrace the simple things out there like the stars for example and the constellations they  
make up and how each one tells a story. I really would like to become more aware of things like this."

"Well you already have," I acknowledged. "So be grateful you still have that ability to take in that feeling. Some people aren't so lucky." "Sounds kind of like my dad," Dib lamented. There was a moment of silence before I decided it was time to ask him  
the question that stayed with me since the night we first snuck into Zim's base together.  
"Dib? What happened to your mom?" He turned to me, his eyes wide behind his glasses. "Wendy, don't start." he whispered hoarsely. "Please," I begged. "I want to know! I want you to feel like you can trust me. I'm not your dad or like any of those people who ridicule you. You've already shared so much with me. You can talk to me about these kinds of things."  
His back was to me again as he breathed a long grieving sigh that fell with his shoulders.  
At that moment, I could tell there were some scars of the past that were reopening as the fresh pain surfaced.

"She um...she was sick for a while. Brain cancer. We didn't realize she had it for the longest time. When she eventually  
began showing symptoms, we took her to the hospital and the doctor said that it was already too late and she was given only six months to live. Afterwards we brought her home and my dad spent every day and night down in his lab searching for some kind of a miracle cure. He tried everything but in the end...she didn't make it."  
"Oh god...Dib," I could feel my eyes begin to well up at the sound of sorrow and hurt in his voice. "I had no idea...I'm so sorry.  
How old were you when that happened?" "I was about eight," Dib replied dully. "Gaz was only six. After it happened, we pretty  
much all changed as a family. We grew apart. Dad became a lot colder and more distant, using science as a distraction against  
the pain of losing his wife. Gaz locked herself up in her room all day and stopped having friends over, became more antisocial  
and angry and me, well I was alone. It was as though that warmth and shelter she had once provided for our home was gone, but I just continued to follow the advice my mother had given me ever since I was really little. She said, 'Always stand up for what you believe in and don't let anyone tell you different' The very same advice you had given me the night we officially met.  
As soon as you spoke those words to me, Wendy, it was then that I realized that I was not crazy."

By that time, hot tears had spilled down my cheeks and I clumsily mopped them up with my sleeve before Dib could see.  
Climbing shakily to me feet, I joined him over by the telescope and threw my arms around him.  
"I know it was hard," I whispered. "But you did it. You opened up and you shared your emotions. How do you feel now?"  
Dib returned the hug gratefully as I struggled to contain my sobs. "I feel a whole lot better, actually. Ever since she died,  
neither of us had ever spoken about her again. We all just wanted to forget, but after a while it was difficult for me to  
keep everything inside. Thank you Wendy for getting it out of me. I've never told anyone else about this until I met you."

For the longest time, we stood there hugging beneath the swirling clouds and silver stars. At that moment, I felt as though I could fly. "What is that?" I asked as a strange whit light suddenly filled the sky. Dib broke away as his gaze followed mine.  
"Could that be a meteor?" "I think it is," Dib said rushing to the edge of the roof. "And it looks like it's heading for our atmosphere!" "It's not going to hit us is it?" I asked worriedly. Together, we watched as the giant celestial rock came hurling overhead before crash landing over the hills somewhere. "Nope," Dib replied with relief. "It didn't hit us but now we can  
tell the Swollen Eyeballs we have officially sighted a 'paranormal' meteor." We laughed.  
"Well," Dib said, glancing at his watch. "It's already nine. Do you need to get home?" "Yeah," I conceded sulkily. "Can't afford to exceed my curfew again." "I understand. I'm going to head over to Zim's tonight and try to install that last spy cam if that's alright with you." "Sounds good. Just be careful, alright?" "I will. Goodnight Wendy and thanks for talking to me. Really."  
I gave him a warm smile before descending the latter.

Back in my room, I slipped into my pajamas and climbed into bed. I turned my head towards the window as I smiled out at the starry night. How magical it looked and so much more than ever before. I closed my eyes and drifted off into what would have been a pleasant sleep if it hadn't been for my itching arm.


	7. Chapter 7

"Psst! Wendy! Hey Wendy, wake up!" "Wha-?" I awoke to the sound of someone calling out my name. There was a slight rustling at my window and through sleepy eyes, I saw the familiar black clad figure who filled it.  
"Dib?" I croaked. Clumsily, I reached to open the casement and he scrambled into the room immediately. "What are you doing here?" I whispered, glancing at the clock. "It's two in the morning."  
"I just couldn't wait to tell you the exciting news!" he gushed loudly. "Shhh!" I hissed. "You'll wake up my mom!" "Oh right," he said lowering his voice. "Sorry." I gave him a puzzled look. "So I take it the latest infiltration into Zim's base went well?" "Yes and no." "What do you mean?" I asked. Before he could continue, a strange thought occurred to me. "Wait a minute. How did you even get up here in the first place? This house is two stories high and there is no way to climb up."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" Dib said excitedly. "I flew!" "You flew?" "Yes! All by myself I flew! There I was, slipping into Zim's base unnoticed at first but it wasn't until after I had planted that last spy cam when things got interesting."  
"Oh no! Did he see you?" "Well yeah, he did but it wasn't as bad as you'd think. You see, after I was captured he began to  
run some experiments by placing me in one of those glass tanks."  
I gasped but he held up both hands, signaling for me to let him continue. "Here's the twist. Little did Zim know that the liquid he submersed me in gave me some sort of...super powers!" he gave a triumphant little giggle. "Can you believe that idiot?  
His little plan backfired and I managed to use my new strength to bust myself out of there! He made a futile attempt to  
stop me but my supersonic speed was no match for him so I escaped!"

"That's...great," I started but Dib cut me off again. "I'd like to see Zim's mission try to prevail now! This is amazing, Wendy! You won't believe all the abilities I have. Watch this!" He removed his glasses and two neon blue laser beams suddenly shot from his eyes, melting a nearby lamp. "Woah there!" I cried, gripping his shoulder to stop him. "Don't go destroying the whole house now!" "Oops sorry," Dib said, realizing his mistake. "Got a little too excited there, I guess."

The next morning, I stepped out of my mom's car and waved goodbye as I headed up towards the double door entrance.  
Rushing to get out of the cold, I stepped into the 'skool', which for some reason looked strangely deserted.  
That was weird. First period was only six minutes away and usually the halls were still packed with students at this time.  
Huh. Maybe there was some kind of pep rally or assembly going on that I didn't know about? Or a class field trip?  
Whatever it was, I couldn't help but be a little nervous about it. Something was definitely not right here.  
Before going to Bitters' class, I decided to make a pit stop by the girls' bathroom. The florescent lights flickered eerily overhead as I walked to the mirror to smooth out my windswept hair.  
"UUUUNNNGGGHHH..." The sudden moaning caused my hands to freeze in mid stroke. "Hello?" My eyes darted around  
struggling to locate source of sound. "Someone there?"

"UUUUNNNNNNNGHHHHH!" Dropping to all fours, I scanned the rows of stalls for any signs of life but all appeared to be empty. That was when I noticed somebody huddled in the corner. The girl sat there, knees drawn up to her chest as she rocked  
back and forth. "Jessica?" I recognized. Her once perfect Barbie blonde hair now looked dingy as it hung in her face. "Are you okay?"  
I asked, kneeling down in front of her. "Would you like me to take you to the nurse?" Jessica only groaned in response  
as she continued to rock back and forth a little faster. She peered at me through her dirty tresses with jaundiced eyes.  
"Jessica, you don't look good. We need to get you to the nurse if you're really this sick, come on."  
I was just about to reach for her hand when all of a sudden she growled and gnashed her teeth at me like a rabid dog.  
Instantly, I barreled backwards, knocking over a metal garbage can. What the hell was wrong with her?  
I snapped out of my daze in time to see the sickly cheerleader stalking towards me, ropes of foamy saliva dripping from her mouth. I tried my best to scramble to my feet but she had grabbed hold of my leg and was dragging me back towards her.  
Oh my god. This was it. I was going to die if I didn't think of something. I struggled for my heavy bookbag before it became too far out of reach. Jessica was about to bite into my calf when I had swung it at her face, knocking her unconscious on the green tiled floor. I was about to climb to my feet when my eyes fell on my arm and my eyes widened in terror. The very spot where Zim's pus had spilled was now a glowing green rash.

I stumbled back into the hall, eyes scanning my surroundings for any further signs of life, preferably the life of a certain creepy little alien I so wished to end. After several minutes of aimless wandering, I finally got what I asked for.  
Zim came strutting around the corner, his horrible little green face looking even more pocked than before as he whistled an innocent tune to himself. He appeared to be heading in the direction opposite of me. As soon as he got close enough, that was when I moved in for the kill. I gave him no time to react before I threw him against the lockers, pinning his scrawny arms back with all my might."WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" I demanded. "I...don't know what you're talking about."  
he said breathlessly. "THIS!" I yanked back my sleeve, revealing my infected arm.

"You did this to me, Zim! What the hell is going on? You better start talking now!" "I'm molting." he confessed, glaring at me through his contact lenses. "Meaning what?" I charged. "Every time there occurs an equinox," explained Zim. "Or alignment of the planets, all alien races experience a molt, myself included."  
"Okay, now explain what's happening to _me_. Oh and while you're at it, maybe you can also explain why the entire student body is suddenly turning into flesh eating zombies?"  
"The introduction of Irken DNA to your putrid human flesh I suspect has resulted in an allergic reaction within your weak little system. Who knows how it will affect you should you absorb the molts entirely? It could lead to mutation or death or maybe you'll join your classmates in the whole zombie conspiracy, which I had nothing to do with by the way."  
"You're lying!" I accused angrily. "I know this has something to do with your plan, infect all human life with this alien virus you've concocted until we're all dead. You're not fooling anyone, Zim! You're going to fix this mess and you're going to start by extracting your nasty pus from my arm."

A little smirk played across Zim's face, mocking me. "I will do no such favors, miserable little earth larva, for you nor the rest  
of this revolting planet. I figure it will be much more amusing to just sit back and watch you all perish instead."  
"Dammit Zim!" I yelled, tightening my grip on his arms as I slammed him against the lockers once more.  
"This isn't funny! This is really some serious shit you've gotten us into now you better get us out of it otherwise I'm going to make _you _perish."

Suddenly the metal spider legs emerged from his PAK. In retaliation, he ensnared me, spinning me around so that I was the one being pinned against the lockers instead. "YOU DARE THREATEN ZIM!" he yelled in my face, his jagged tongue going wild.  
"Let her go, space monster!" We turned to see Dib zipping down the hall towards us, the same ray of neon blue following close behind him like a comet tail. Obviously threatened by his nemesis's new super powers, Zim retracted the spider legs.  
"This isn't over, atrocious little earth worm!" he warned me before retreating down the hall.  
"Oh come on!" Dib called after his enemy. "Afraid that I'm suddenly more powerful than you? Get back here and fight like a man Zim! Oh wait, I forgot you're not a man!"

"Dib!" I said, running over to him. "I just saw Jessica. She's not well. I think she's turning into a-" "Zombie, I know," he finished.  
"I ran into a few kids exhibiting the same behavior. Here's what we're going to do. Based on what I've seen, the virus hasn't seemed to have spread to everyone just yet. If we can question the students who don't seem to have been infected maybe we can get some answers as to what's going on. All we have to do is split up so-"

"Split up?" I exclaimed. "Are you insane, Dib? It's not safe here anymore! You may have powers to protect yourself now but I don't. I was already attacked in the bathroom! Dealing with Jessica alone was bad enough but what happens if I come across a horde of them? Splitting up is _not _a good idea!" "Trust me," Dib said, ignoring my concern.  
"We'll be able to cover more ground that way. If you get into any trouble, I'll be there. Promise, but we'd better get moving.  
You can start by questioning the football team. They would be some of the first to know if they've taken any so called performance enhancers from Zim. In the meantime, I'll check the cafeteria for any food borne organisms. Meet me back here around noon, okay? See ya!"  
"Wait!" I called after him. But Dib was already out of there like a bolt of lightning while I stood there alone. Something has definitely changed about him.

After making my way to the football field only to find it vacant, I decided to head towards the next best hangout for jocks. The weight room. There, I luckily managed to flag down the star quarterback I recognized from the other day.  
Torque Smackey lay there, his purple jersey saturated with sweat as he did bench presses. Despite concentrating on his workout, he managed a strained smile upon noticing me. "What's up?"  
"Hi Torque," I said. "I know we haven't exactly officially met. I'm Wendy." "Yeah, I've seen you around school," He lifted the barbell as if they had kittens on the ends rather than two eighty pound weights. "Did you need something?" "Actually, I have a few questions for you. It's for um, health class." He gave me an odd look. "Okay?" "I was just wondering, are there any steroids going around that you've taken within the last twenty four hours?" Torque exhaled as he brought the barbell down and shook his head. "Nope." "Okay, what about the rest of the team? Have they?" He shrugged. "Not that I know of. Most of us aren't exactly the pill popping or syringe taking type. It goes against coach's wishes. That kind of stuff would result in us getting cut from the team, you know?" "Right, but have you been experiencing any unexplained symptoms of illness? Fever? Joint pain? Nausea? Extreme, unquenchable hunger?"

Torque set the barbell down as he sat up."Nope. Just went to the doctor yesterday and he said I was as healthy as an ox. Hand me that towel, will you?" I grabbed up the towel that lay over a nearby scale and tossed it to him. He proceeded to blot sweat from his brow. "Well," he said, rising from the bench. "I'd better hit the showers before third period starts." "Okay," I said. "But I'd better come with you."Torque gave me a weird look. Well, those were certainly a bad choice of words. "I mean...I could walk you there on my way to class if that's alright with you. I'm headed in that direction anyway."  
He chuckled at my awkward explanation. "You're pretty funny. Sure, Wendy. You can walk me to the showers although you're welcome to walk _into _them too." He gave me a wink as he draped the sweaty towel around his thick neck before leaving the room. Shaking my head, I leisurely ducked out after him.

Though I knew I physically wasn't much help as a bodyguard, I wanted to keep a close watch on Torque. Even if it meant  
having to endure listening to his stories about every touchdown he'd scored at least this way, I'd know he was safe.  
I also felt better in the company of someone who was tall and physically fit enough to fight off zombies should any more of them show up. "Well, Torque," I said as we approached the showers. "Thanks for letting me interview you. Glad to know you haven't caught that nasty virus that's been going around." When he didn't answer, knots began to form in the pit of my stomach.  
"Torque?" I turned to see him slumped down against the wall, his complexion suddenly deathly pale. He appeared to have broken into yet another sweat and I had a sickly feeling that this time, it wasn't from his workout.  
"Actually," he said weakly. "Now that you've mentioned it, I am starting to feel a little...feverish." Oh. No.

"Okay, that's it," I said. "We need to get you to the nurse, pronto!" Kneeling beside him, I draped his muscular arm around my slender shoulders and hoisted him to his feet as hard as I could muster.  
Due to the fact that I was a five foot tall 110 pound girl supporting the dead weight of a six foot tall boy, the walk to the nurse's office certainly was no picnic. I was relieved to finally get him through the door and into a chair. That relief, however quickly turned to panic when I saw that the office was empty. "Hello!" I called. "Is anyone here? Please we have an emergency!"  
Seconds later, there was movement behind one of the desks.

"Stay here," I told Torque. Cautiously, I approached it. "Hello?" No answer. Finally I peered over the edge. The good news was that I found the nurse. The bad news? She didn't seem like she was going to be much help. There she lay, facedown and unconscious beneath a mountain of papers. I picked them up and threw them aside before attempting to help her, at least I hoped I could. "Excuse me," I said shakily. "Nurse? Are you okay? Please be okay..."  
Slowly I reached for her shoulder when all of a sudden she sprang up, causing me to scream. She began stalking towards me and I could tell from the look of her eyes and those deep guttural growls that this was no longer our 'skool' nurse.

Frantically, I bolted for the door only to find that it was blocked. Horror stricken, my hand flew to my mouth. "Torque...Oh god, Torque." The now zombiefied jock reached for me. "So...hungry..." he moaned. I barely dodged him and the nurse as the two of them closed in on me. Quickly, I ran to the nearest bookcase in hopes of luring them away from the door.  
They began to get closer, closer as I pushed at the bookcase with all my might. "UUUUUNNNFFF!" I yelled when I finally managed to tip it over, successfully trapping them beneath it.  
Immediately, I flew out the door and broke into a sprint down the halls. Then I came to an abrupt halt once I saw what was waiting for me just up ahead. More zombies. A horde of them shambling down the stairwell and heading straight for me.

Spinning on my heel, I began to run in the other direction. "DIB!" I screamed. I looked over my shoulder in time to see them ganging up on me. Faster I ran, sneakers slapping loudly against the tile floor with every step I took.  
"DIB! WHERE ARE YOU? HELP ME!" Seconds later, there was a flash of blue light and I was swept up into the air  
out of harm's way. To my relief, I turned to see that I was safely in the arms of no other than my knight in shining armor himself.  
For a moment, Dib hovered there looking down on the horde of zombie students stampeding below.  
He then turned to me again. "Are you okay?" "Not at all." I confessed. "Come on," he said. "In here."

We flew into an air vent above where we proceeded to crawl through until we located an exit, leading out into a classroom.  
Exasperated, I slumped into a desk and Dib perched on top of the one across from me. "So," I began. "Did you find out  
anything?" "Nothing," he replied in frustration. "All the cafeteria food tested clean of any unearthly contaminants and just contained its usual ones. Everyone 'normal' I talked to just acted like I was going off on another one of my 'rampages' and wouldn't give me any straight answers. During all of this, I ended up fighting off more zombies. What about you?"

"Well, it started off with me finding Torque Smackey and unfortunately had to end with me throwing a bookcase on top of both him and our 'skool' nurse. Afterwards, I got chased down by a horde as I'm sure you've just witnessed. Other than that, I haven't found any answers either." "This is madness!" Dib yelled, kicking a chair in frustration.  
"Zim's _got _to be responsible for this somehow but we can't even determine his source of the outbreak! I just wish we could figure out what's going on!" "It's the end of the world." a grim voice suddenly murmured.  
Surprised, we looked towards the frail old woman who sat at the teacher's desk, her back turned to us. "Ms. Bitters?" I realized.  
"What are you talking about?" "There's no need for you to be ignorant, Wendy. I've been telling all of you this for ages that the apocalypse is on the rise. It's unavoidable."

"How do you even know that that's what's going on?" I argued. "What if it's something else? What if we can stop it?"  
Ms. Bitters spun around to face me, thoroughly annoyed by my dispute. "There is _nothing_ you two can do to stop it!  
Nothing!" "Oh for crying out loud," Dib said, rolling his eyes. "Will you cut the doomsayer nonsense already? Yes, we know the world is at stake. Yes, we know our school and possibly our planet is becoming overrun by zombies. The question is why? And don't tell us it has to do with some ancient prophecy you've read in an old textbook somewhere determining the fate of our world.  
Why don't you just admit that all this time I've been right when I said aliens are to blame for all this? Particularly one you've  
been 'schooling' right under your nose for years?"

Ms. Bitters glared at him dangerously. "You dare question the teachings of someone who has lived on this planet much longer than _you _have?" "Please," I intervened. "Just tell us what we need to do right now?"  
She paused for a moment. Then with a heavy sigh, she lowered her head and swiveled her chair back towards us once more.  
"Just go home. It's no longer safe here. Both of you go. Now." Dib and I exchanged looks of hopelessness. Clearly, the woman had made up her mind about the world and would be no help to us now.  
Before leaving the 'skool', we spent the next half hour rounding up all the infected students and faculty we came across and locked them in the boiler room. If it hadn't been for Dib's powers, the task would have most likely taken a lot longer.  
It was the least we could do in order to prevent them from attacking the city and spreading the virus if it hadn't already. I really hoped it hadn't. In the meantime, they would have to stay there until we figured out what to do next.

Since the outbreak, 'skool' had to be closed down until further notice. While most living kids would think of something like this as a vacation, the idea didn't even come close for us. After a tough week of useless research, spying on Zim from Dib's room and finding out nothing, I was so relieved when Friday came around. What a relief it was to finally relax and have dinner with mom and Dib while engaging in normal conversation. Well, almost normal.

As usual, my mom was the first to break the ice. "So tell me about yourself Dib," she said pleasantly as she grabbed a veggie burger. "What do you like to do? Wendy tells me you're into paranormal studies." Dib straightened up in his chair, eager to share his interests. "Yes, I am. I know quite a lot about it. In fact, I'm actually aspiring to become a professional paranormal investigator." "As in hunt ghosts and things?" "Well, yes. Ghosts and other things." "So have you encountered anything unusual so far?" "Yes, in fact we just-" I kicked his foot from under the table, signaling for him to keep quiet.  
As much as I supported my love interest on his beliefs, I would rather my mother not know about the things we'd been up too.  
She worried about me enough when it came to normal everyday things. The last thing she needed to know was that her  
daughter was dealing with aliens and zombies in aside from being a teenager.

Luckily, Dib heeded my warning. "I mean, I've mostly read about stuff in the newspaper but I know the truth is out there."  
"That's right, it is," said mom. "Just keep telling yourself that and you'll be sure to find what you're looking for. Would anyone like more water?" "I could use a little more after I down the rest of this." Dib said, holding up his almost empty glass.  
"Sure thing, honey. I'll be right back with the pitcher," She stepped out of the dining room then her head reappeared in the door once again. "Oh Wendy, I almost forgot to mention while you were out yesterday, your friend Tak stopped by. She wants you to give her a call."

Suddenly Dib spat out the last of his water as he gaped at her in disbelief. "Tak?" he coughed. When mom had disappeared into the kitchen, he pulled me closer to him. "Wendy," he whispered. "How could you not tell me that Tak was here?"  
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You know her?" "She's Irken! Years ago, she came to Earth to take over Zim's mission. She failed the first time but if she's back now then who knows what she's planning to do next? Don't you see it?  
She's bad news, Wendy. She can't be trusted." As I stared off into shock, it finally dawned on me that maybe Zim hadn't been responsible for the zombie outbreak after all.


	8. Chapter 8

Mom returned to the dining room, bearing a large water pitcher. She proceeded to top off Dib's empty glass and my half filled one. "So," she started. "school is still closed, huh? What for again?" Our replies came in a jumbled unison.  
"Renovation!"  
"Termites!" We exchanged wide eyed glances as Mom looked confused. "Sorry?" "They're uh...renovating for termites." I explained stupidly. She continued to eyeball me oddly but then she started to laugh. "Oh I see! And how long is this 'termite renovation' supposed to go on for?" "Honestly," Dib sighed. "We're not too sure. The 'skool' is still being... fumigated, I expect."  
"Well," said Mom. "Hopefully, you both will take the time you have now to do something fun and productive. There are so many kids who just sit in front of the TV and go la la brain and never see daylight or get exercise. It really makes you wonder what kind of parents they have. Honey, is something the matter with your arm?"

I looked up at her, not realizing I had been scratching it again. "Oh um...I just fell into some poison ivy the other day. I'll be fine."  
"Well, we should really put something on that if it's bothering you that badly. Let me see." "No!" I quickly jerked my arm out of her reach. Dib gave me that signature cocked eyebrow, indicating he was suspicious.  
"I mean," I said more gently. "I'll deal with it. It's nothing to worry about. I need to use the bathroom."  
Immediately, I excused myself from the dinner table and ran upstairs. Locking the bathroom door behind me, I pulled back my sleeve, dreading the horror that lie beneath it.

Now the inside of my forearm glowed so brightly that it bathed the entire bathroom in luminous green. Closely, I scrutinized the infection and my stomach churned when I saw what it was doing. My flesh. It literally was crawling! Oh god, it was getting worse! What the hell was happening to me? It was as if my human DNA was physically trying to separate itself from the alien DNA. Frantically, I rummaged through the medicine cabinet until I located a tube of anti rash ointment. I uncapped it and desperately applied it to the affected area. Then something freaky happened. The entire tube stuck into my skin and then sank like quicksand. A shrill scream escaped my lips as I struggled to retrieve it but it had already disappeared inside my arm. Now I was really afraid. I had no idea what was going to become of me or if I could even cure myself. What would happen to me if I couldn't? Would I sprout antennae and other aspects until I evolved into a full Irken like Zim? Or was this all part of his plan? In the end, would it really kill me? Suddenly there were a few rapid knocks at the door, making me jump.

"W-who is it?" I stammered. "It's just me," came Dib's muffled voice. "Are you okay in there? I heard you scream and there's this weird green light streaming under the door." Grudgingly, I unlocked it and he came bustling in. His eyes widened in horror once he determined the source of the light. "What the-? Wendy what is going on?" "Some of Zim's molting pus spilled on me and now I have an infection." Dib was outraged. "I'm going to kill him! Come with me to my house. We can use my dad's lab to try to find a cure for that." "Okay," I said. " but before we go, there's something you should know about Tak."

"This is terrible." Dib said after I had explained everything. "Just...terrible!" He paced around the living room in frustration while I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. Gaz sat beside me, arms crossed and clearly not giving a damn about Tak's return. "I had no idea," I said miserably. "I had no idea she was an alien conning me into helping her take over the world by planting those things!" I was feeling awful due to the facts that I had been this stupid to trust Tak and that our attempt at curing my infection had also turned out to be a total failure on top of everything else. Dib gave an exasperated sigh and said gently, "I know, I know but we shouldn't waste any more time dwelling on this. We need to get on the net's paranormal database and find out more about these strange plants. What they are, how they're produced and how we can stop them." "You're right."

Back in Dib's room, the two of us huddled around his computer while Gaz sat on the bed occupying herself with her Game Slave 2. I quickly punched the key words 'space fungi' in the site's search engine and was amazed by the long list of results.  
I scrolled down the page until I came across one that looked interesting. The icon showed a pink squid shaped flower with long feeler shaped prongs. I clicked on it and began to read. "_This floral fungi commonly known as Star Dancers_  
_is mainly found growing on planets with cooler climates such as Jupiter, Plexxus, Saturn, Vort, Neptune, Devastis and Pluto.  
Once reaching sexual maturity, a spore filled iridescent slime is emitted from deep within the flower, beginning the reproduction process. This celestial substance is known for its aphrodisiac effects on alien species and encourages mating and courtship with anyone that touches it._"  
"Gross." Gaz muttered from the corner. I gave a frustrated sigh. "Okay, that's not it. Moving on."

I returned to the page of results and began scrolling down again but finding nothing. "What's that?" Dib suddenly pointed to a depiction of very familiar looking ghastly green plants. Eagerly, I stopped to click on it. "_The Agathorax, also known as the Fungus of Chaos, for many generations has served as a vital tool in helping alien species conquer other planets. It is well known for its offensive sulphur like odor, which can be detected up to three miles away. Once planted within enemy territory, the fungi remains dormant until a meteorite containing special fertilizers is hurled in the general direction from deep space.' _Dib that was the one we saw the other night!" Dib's jaw dropped in shocked realization and I continued to read. _"A cloud of spores are then released airborne, infecting their hosts with a slowly spreading zombielike virus. Thus, the inhabitants become mindless slaves. Though a popular tactic among alien invaders, this can only take full effect during the Equinox when the fungi is close to its peak._"

"So that's why Zim is molting again," said Dib. "There needs to be an equinox in order for this to happen. It also explains why Tak waited this long to return. She had to have been planning this all along! Wendy does it say anything on how to stop it?"  
"Let me find out. _Alien invaders must work very carefully when planting this fungi for they can be destroyed if_-"  
Suddenly the computer screen switched off before I could finish reading the sentence. "Stupid thing!"  
Quickly, I tried to restart it but it only blacked out again. "Dib, there's something wrong with your computer. It keeps shutting itself down."

"Only because someone decided to throw it out the window the other day." Dib said shooting an accusatory look at Gaz, who smirked in return. "I guess we'll just have to finish this later," I sighed as I rose from the chair. "It's getting late anyway. I'll see you guys later okay?" Throwing on my winter coat, I miserably left the room.

The moonlit sidewalks were empty of people as I slowly headed for home. I stared down at them, still hacking my brain for answers as to how those Agathorax things could be stopped. If only Dib's computer hadn't shut down in the middle of  
that whole thing then we would have found out and could have moved on by now. Tak was probably already planning her next move and we were really running out of time. I guess I would just have to get on the internet myself as soon as I got home  
and see if I could continue from where I left off. Suddenly I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. A dark figure darting past me in the opposite direction. I stopped and cautiously scanned my surroundings. All was still with the exception of the soft cold wind whispering through the trees overhead. I would have gladly decided it had been a raccoon but unfortunately, the shape I had seen looked more humanoid than animal like.

With a shrug, I continued onward in spite of my growing nervousness. That was when the footsteps came. Like a series of thunder claps, they grew louder as they got closer and closer. Faster and faster until the sounds echoed throughout the deserted streets, gradually increasing to a deafening boom in both my ears. Once again, I stopped to peer over my shoulder and my heart froze with panic. A man who looked to be about six feet tall was sprinting towards me. His breathing was stifled and raspy as if he were asthmatic. At first I couldn't make out his face since he was so shrouded in darkness but that was only momentarily  
until he stepped into the moonlight.

Then I became horror stricken. He looked to be businessman in his early thirties and was foaming at the mouth to the point where it was dripping down the front of his dress shirt. Several gurgled groans escaped his lips and his yellow eyes popped with wild hunger. Oh god, no. It was already spreading to the rest of the city! With a piercing scream, I turned and ran from him as fast as I could but he was still able to keep up since his legs were much longer than mine. He also looked to have had an extremely athletic build, which also didn't help me any. Crap why do I always get the physically fit zombies?

We were near a playground when he finally tackled me around the waist. I tripped, landing facedown in some tanbark below.  
I struggled to get back up but the zombie turned me over, using all his weight to pin me on my back. "GET OFF OF ME!" I screamed. "LET ME GO!" I desperately began throwing punches at his face and shoulders but my attempts were futile as he seized both my wrists. Violently, I squirmed beneath him as he pinned one of my arms to my side and raised my other to his mouth. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The pain was unbearable as his teeth sank into my flesh and at that moment, I knew I had been ambushed.

I was expecting to see my own blood gushing from my arm and to see more of it glittering on his lips. Instead of proceeding to devour me alive he suddenly stopped as if he had just bitten into a moldy apple. When I looked up at him, I saw that his mouth hadn't been full of my flesh and blood but full of glowing green pus. It was my infected arm that had been bitten. He toppled off of me as he began to choke and sputter before staggering away to puke in the bushes. I sat up to examine my arm and was shocked to see the fresh bite mark heal instantly on its own. Seconds later, the man turned to me again only this time, he had a new look about him. His suddenly flushed face glistened with sweat and his once cold lifeless eyes now looked a doe like brown.  
Those eyes looked bewildered as if seeing me for the first time.

His legs wobbled like a newborn foal learning how to walk as he made his way back over to me. Sweat was dripping from his dark brown hair. "Wh-what happened?" he asked breathlessly. "H-how did I get here?" At first I just sat there watching him in disbelief. Just a few minutes ago the guy was a mindless ravenous zombie about to rip into my flesh. Now all of a sudden he was coherent and self aware, which were all pointing to signs of...vitality? This was amazing. I wasn't sure how I was going to explain everything to him so I did my best to improvise a story.

"You, um were on your way home from work and suddenly you slipped and hit your head on that drinking fountain over there.  
You had blacked out for a while but you're fine now so you can safely return home to your wife and kids and be happy and...alive." "Oh," The man furrowed his brow as he stared off in confusion. "I don't remember ever getting married and having kids," Crap. You just had to assume that, didn't you Wendy? "Oh well. I guess that would explain the throbbing headache. I really musthave hit my head pretty hard to not remember something like _that_. Well, I guess I'm going to go now. Thanks uh, miss." "No problem," I said awkwardly. When the man had gone I looked down towards my infected arm and a slow smile played across my lips. Looks like I just found the cure for our zombie problem.

Once inside the house, I crept upstairs as mouse like as I could to ensure that I didn't wake Mom. I slipped inside my pitch dark room, blindly feeling around for the light switch. Finally having located it, I flipped it on and went over to my vanity table.  
Then both hands flew to my mouth as I tried to suppress the scream of terror that almost escaped. Reflected in my mirror  
was none other than Tak sitting on my bed, slowly stroking MiMi who purred contently in her lap.  
"Been out for night on the town again, I see," she drawled. "and without me. I must admit I'm a bit hurt. I thought we could have had a girls' night out. Didn't mummy tell you I came by yesterday?" "She did," I said with forced courage. "I also know what you're up to, Tak." She raised a perfectly penciled eyebrow as she nonchalantly replied, "Really?" Setting MiMi down on the floor, she drew herself up to full height. I carefully backed away as she strode over to me.

"And would that be? Would it be that I'm not really here to attend college? That I'm not really here to be your friend? That I've got a completely different list of priorities than I've let you in on? That my true form is actually _this_?"  
Suddenly the images of Tak and MiMi shifted and I gasped as a real Irken flanked by a tiny robot now stood in my bedroom before me. Now I could see why Tak's disguise had been so convincing. It was holographic and so was MiMi's.  
It was certainly no surprise that a human could easily be fooled by such advanced alien technology unlike that of Zim who had simply just half assed his disguise.

"Why?" was all I could muster. "Why are you doing this? How could you-?" "Just use you like that?" she finished cruelly.  
"It's nothing personal, dearie. I simply came back to reclaim what is rightfully mine, and that is my mission to destroy the planet so that I can at last become acknowledged by my leaders. I just had to wait until the right time for my plant to take full effect so I thought to myself, what would be a more perfect time than the next upcoming equinox?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Dib and I know all about that." "Ah yes, Dib," Tak was suddenly lost in memory. "Such a dear he was. How is he anyway?" Her words caused my blood to simmer slightly. "He was fine up until _you_ showed up again! Don't try to change the subject. Wait a minute. If the equinox is on the rise than why aren't you molting just like the others?"  
She reached into her PAK, withdrawing what appeared to be a syringe filled with a blue fluid of some kind.  
"You wouldn't think I would sabotage my own plan by allowing accidental spillage of my DNA, would you? That kind of thing would result in the demise of not only the Agathorax but the entire virus as well, which is why I've injected myself with this special serum in order to prevent the molt."

"Yeah?" I retorted. "Well, it just so happens we still have access to your kind of DNA through Zim as well as myself-" I revealed my infected arm "so it looks like we'll be thwarting your plan after all." To my surprise, Tak laughed. "Silly girl, do you honestly believe I would return here without a backup plan? Go ahead and stop the virus but what are you going to do when a giant meteor suddenly strikes tomorrow night and burns up your little planet?"  
I gaped at her in horror. "You wouldn't." A dangerous smile slithered across her face at the fear in my voice. Inside her large violet eyes, my own reflection stared back at me, looking small and helpless. Satisfied, Tak crossed the room towards my open window. MiMi began to follow before stopping again. Then to my dismay, the evil robot lunged at me, metal claws viciously swiping at the air. Instantly, I dodged them or at least I thought I had.

As soon as I hit the floor I was joined shortly by what looked to have been six inches of my own severed hair falling into a heap right beside me. Normally, any girl would have flipped over getting her hair chopped off unwillingly. I was just glad it hadn't been my face. MiMi joined her alien mistress, who withdrew her own set of metal spider legs from her PAK.  
"Sweet dreams, dear heart." she said sweetly before climbing out the window.

When Tak had gone, I immediately took out my cell and punched in Dib's number. It rang once. Then twice. Then three times. "Come on. Please pick up! Please pick up!" "Hello?" came Dib's sleep choked voice after the fifth ring.  
"Dib, it's me," I said, trying to maintain a quiet voice. "You're not going to believe what I just found out! On my way home,  
I was attacked by a zombie but then-" "What?" "Just hear me out. He bit into the very spot on my arm where the infection was  
and seconds later, he was alive again. Don't you see it? This was why neither of us were affected by the virus! Irken DNA is the antidote! Zim's pus and whatever he used that gave you your superpowers was what made us immune."

"That's great!" Dib said suddenly wide awake. "That means we can start curing everyone at the 'skool' now!" "There's more," I conceded. "I just saw Tak." "Did she hurt you?" "Well, other than her robot deciding to give me a new haircut, no I'm fine, but our planet won't be if we don't act fast." "What are you talking about?" "This zombie virus was only part of Tak's plan. She knew we would figure out how to stop it so now she's saying she's going to hurl another meteor at us only this time, it's going to set the entire earth ablaze!" "No!" Dib said incredulously. "This is much worse than I thought. Tell you what. Meet me at my house tomorrow around five-thirty. By then, I should have a plan devised on how I can...I mean, how _we _can stop that meteor and make sure that Tak never shows her face around here again." "Are you sure you don't want me to come by sooner?" I asked worriedly.  
"I can help if you need me to." "No," he insisted. "I've got it covered, Wendy. You just get yourself to sleep and I'll see you tomorrow alright?" "Alright." I said, feeling somewhat disappointed. "You have a good night, Wendy." "Thanks. You too." I stayed on the phone until I heard the click on the other end signaling he had hung up. Then with a heavy sigh, I pulled on my pajamas, shutting and locking the windows before settling into bed.

The next evening, I decided to head over to Dib's a half hour earlier than he's said to. If Tak was serious about destroying the world, it was best to not wait any longer. Thick, dark storm clouds filled the sky, threatening rain. I would have asked Mom to drive me if she hadn't stepped out earlier, so it looked like I was stuck biking it. Already, it was beginning to drizzle as I peddled my way there. After Gaz had let me in, I quickly ascended the stairs. I was ready to knock on the door when all of a sudden there were voices coming from inside Dib's room. Curious, I stopped to listen.

"...and it's not that she hasn't been a good friend or anything like that," Dib was saying "It's just that I don't think she's really cut out for this kind of thing. I mean, it is a huge and not to mention dangerous mission." "I understand completely," a voice I recognized to be Agent Darkbooty answered. "You've really fallen behind on your tasks since you've joined forces with that silly girl. I think you're making a wise choice by letting her go." Inside my chest, my heart sank. Oh god. What were they _saying_?  
"You're right," Dib replied. "Since I've obtained these new special abilities, I really don't see myself needing her help anymore.  
Before, Wendy was more of my sidekick. If I continued to let her work with me, I would only be pulling deadweight.  
Right now, I'm waiting for her to stop by. As soon as she does, I'll have to break the news to her that I really would rather do this mission alone before I send her on her way." "That's the spirit, Mothman."

By that time, I had heard enough. I turned and bolted back down the stairs, nearly bumping into Gaz who was on her way up to her room. "Where are you going?" she asked, annoyed. I didn't answer her as I flew out the door into the pouring rain.

I hopped on my bike, desperately peddling as far away from the Membrane residence as I could. As I made my way into the city, several passersby gave looks of sympathy combined with confusion at the sight of a miserable soaking wet girl on a bike.  
At that moment, I really couldn't care what any of them thought. All I could think about was how stupid I had been as to think that I would have a sudden change of luck in the romance department. How stupid I had been to think that Dib would actually ever fall in love with me. Despite how crazy it sounded, I picked up speed as I made my way to the one other person besides my mom who was sure to care.

Twenty minutes later, I came to a bright sunshine yellow house. Behind a small picket white fence was a lawn full of petunias and at least a dozen plastic pink flamingos. I threw my bike off to the side of the driveway as I walked dejectedly towards the blue front door. Ringing the doorbell, I stood back and waited. Keef answered the door five seconds later. His pale face lit up in a mix of surprise and delight upon seeing me. "Wendy! I'm so happy to see you! What are you doing out here in the rain?"  
For a long while, I just stared at the ground, struggling for the right words to say. "I'm so sorry," I choked. "I...I know it might seem weird just coming here like this. I know...we just met not that long ago...but..." before I could even finish the sentence, I completely burst into tears.

"I just have no one else to talk to right now!" Keef's large emerald eyes sparkled with sympathy as I fell apart. "Oh Wendy...don't cry," He pulled me into a fierce hug and I gratefully threw my arms around him in return.  
For the longest time, I stood there sobbing into his chest and he just held me, not at all caring that I was drenching his clothes.  
Several minutes later, he pulled away and said, "Let's get you inside and into some dry clothes before you catch pneumonia.  
I'll make us some hot chocolate too and then I want you to tell me what's making you sad." I managed to pull my quivering lips into a smile as I nodded graciously before following him though the front door.

The inside of Keef's house was warm and inviting with an enticing scent of vanilla sugar permeating the air. It was the epitome of what a home should be, a place where you felt safe and comfortable. He had thrown my wet clothes into the dryer as he lent me one of his shirts and a pair of his skinny jeans, which were both slightly oversized on me. I sat on the big comfy magenta colored loveseat in the living room while Keef prepared hot chocolate in the kitchen. Minutes later, he returned with two steaming hot mugs, setting one of them on the coffee table in front of me.

"It's made with steamed soymilk, topped with gelatin free marshmallows just as you like it." I was impressed by his ability to guess what my needs were. Of course, knowing Keef, he probably knew a lot more about me than just my diet preferences. "Thanks," I said sincerely. "That's very sweet of you." His smile was demure. "So," he said, sitting down next to me. "Tell me what's on your mind." At first, it was difficult for me to just open up and tell him everything, but Keef just waited patiently until I was finally ready. I started with when I first started crushing on Dib and ended with what he had last said about me. Of course I didn't really want to mention it had been him, so I kept Dib's name anonymous.

All the while, Keef listened attentively to every word I said, his eyes never leaving my face. When I had finished, he wasted no time giving his warmest condolences. "Wendy, not only are you the most beautiful girl I've met, but you're also the kindest, most down to earth soul I've ever known. Any guy would be crazy to not want to stay close to you all the time! If anything, it's his loss and not yours. I know it seems like an icky storm is stirring inside your heart right now, but soon that storm will subside and your heart will become filled with sunshine and rainbows once again. You just need someone who _adores _you."  
He brushed back a lock of my damp hair, his eyes gazing into mine momentarily as he rested a hand on my cheek. Suddenly he sprang up from the couch. "Omigosh! Is it six o'clock yet?" Befuddled, I glanced at my watch. "Umm...yeah? What's happening at six o'clock?" "_My Little Pony_ of course!" Keef squealed as he reached for the remote and covered us with a big fluffy blanket. "Perfect! This show will cheer you right up, Wendy!" So Keef was a brony. I never would have guessed.

As weird as it sounded, I had to admit that sparkly magical ponies combined with Keef cuddles had actually been good therapy for me. While we were watching, my phone vibrated a couple times beneath the blanket. Seeing that the calls were from Dib, I instantly sent them to voicemail before turning it completely off. The nerve of him. I drained what was left of my hot chocolate and it wasn't long before my bladder began to complain. "Keef, where's your bathroom?" I asked. "Just down the hall, second door on your left." he said, pointing. "Thanks." Getting up from the couch, I went to do my business.

I was about to head back to the living room when my tube of lip balm fell out of my pocket and rolled into one of the bedrooms.  
As much as I hated trespassing, I had to go retrieve it. I flipped on the light switch and found myself in a whole new realm of happy and colorful. Seeing how it looked like Rainbow Dash had puked all over the place, I think it was safe to say this was definitely Keef's room. My eyes darted around until they finally located the lost lip balm. Great, it had rolled under the bed.  
Dropping to a crawl, I reached for it and discovered something I wasn't expecting to find.  
A pink heart shaped candy box lay there like the ones you see around Valentine's Day. Handwritten on the surface in gold fabric paint were the words _My Princess. _For a while, I debated with myself as to whether or not I should have a peek inside. In the end, my curiosity got the better of me. I pulled back the lid and was abashed by what lay on the other side. Me. At least ten different pictures of me doing everything from standing in the halls at 'skool' to sitting in class to walking down the street and even...sleeping in my own bed!

Amidst all that were various belongings of mine. A black hair band, a half empty bottle of cotton candy body splash, a used up tube of bubblegum lip balm and...was that a lock of my hair? There were also pieces of notebook paper containing enough love poems to send somebody into a diabetic coma. I didn't know whether to be flattered or horrified by Keef's stalker stash. I guess I should have expected it, but like _this_? This wasn't just any high school crush. This was an obsession!  
"I see you've discovered my collection," a voice suddenly said from the doorway. Startled, I dropped the box, spilling it of all its contents as I stood up to face Keef.

He stepped into the room and frowned. "I was wondering why you hadn't come back yet, so I waited until a commercial break to go and make sure you were okay then I found you here of all places!" I was at a total loss for words as I stared at him incredulously. Closing the door behind him, he gave a boyish little giggle. "Oh Wendy, I'm not mad at you. You're always welcome in my room! I'm just glad you're safe is all. I was starting to worry about you." "Keef," I started, picking up the box and showing it to him. "What's going on? What _is_ all this?" "Right, about that. Well Wendy, there really is no other way to say this. Ever since I met you, I couldn't help but become really drawn to you. You were so kind and caring and intelligent, so different from all the other girls at 'skool' who all treated me like dirt. I found myself wanting to know more about you, to become closer to you, so I began collecting some of your things to ensure that I always had a part of you with me,"

I gaped at him, not knowing what to think. "It wasn't long before it happened," he continued. "when the funniest feelings began to take over me. Each time I saw you, it was like a thousand hamsters running on wheels inside my heart..."  
"Keef," I interrupted. "Listen to me. You have to ignore the hamsters. They know not what they tell you." But Keef wasn't listening. "...and I just felt all warm and fuzzy inside! What I'm trying to say, Wendy is-" "Please don't say it," "that you are my muse! You're all I ever think about lately and I-" "Please don't say it!" "I love you! And now that I finally have you in my room I can do something I've been wanting to do for a very long time!" Before I could object, he had taken my head in his hands  
and together, we crashed to the floor as he began kissing me.

I really hadn't meant for my evening with Keef to go in the direction it had. I was just so thrown by all that was happening that I didn't even have time to react to any of it. Fortunately, he hadn't jumped me with anything beyond just an innocent lip lock, but his hormones had definitely kicked in. I was glad the rain had finally let up when I began to bike home.  
Walking up towards the front door, I fumbled for my house key. Around the lamp post, a trio of moths began their ethereal dance. Moths. Mothman. The word was enough to bring tears to my eyes as I remembered Dib's alias.  
Tearing my eyes from the painful reminder, I made my way inside the house. "Mom!" I called, setting my bag down. "I'm home!" In spite of the lights being on, there was no answer. I headed upstairs and peered into her bedroom."Mom?" Nobody there.

I couldn't help but be a little worried. She said she would have been home by six and now it was seven-thirty. It didn't seem like her to be this late. Lastly, I checked the living room that was when I panicked. The largest window had been completely shattered, leaving several shards of glass strewn all over the carpet. They crunched under my shoes as I rushed over to see if the vandal was still traceable. He was. Sure enough, a spacecraft I instantly recognized as a voot cruiser hovered down in front of me.  
The familiar alien inside flashed a wicked grin as he waved his two fingers mockingly at me while clasping his other hand tightly around my mother's mouth. She sat beside him, her eyes wide with fear as they pleaded for my help.  
Before I could react, the voot cruiser had taken off into the night. "ZIM YOU BASTARD!" I screamed after it.

Dashing outside, I hopped on my bike and immediately peddled to the base. I was perfectly aware that this had to be a trap and that Zim was most likely using Mom as bait, but messing with my family was really going too far.  
If he wanted me this much, then he could have me so long as he didn't hurt my mother. I arrived in time to find the door ajar, which had to have meant they were already here. All was quiet as soon as I got inside the house. No sign of Zim, Mom or even GIR for that matter. I figured Zim had to have already taken her down in his base so I hurried over to the end table. I hoped to god that he wasn't conducting any horrible experiments on her. I was about to access the elevator when suddenly I was hit in the back of the head by something heavy. I lay on the floor, slowly losing consciousness due to the impact. Lethargically, I rolled onto my back and through blurry eyes I could barely make out what looked like a robotic man and woman standing over me.  
The woman was holding a metal folding chair as she said in a distant voice, "It is past your bedtime, young lady!"  
Then my world went black.


	9. Chapter 9

It seemed like hours before I had finally regained consciousness. My eyelids lifted heavily and through hazy vision, the image of a green dog face loomed over me, practically touching my nose. Overhead lights of purple and magenta shone so brightly, it was enough to burn holes in my sensitive retinas. Noticing that I was waking up, the dog's mouth pulled up into a goofy smile before enthusiastically giving my face a massive lick. "GIR!" a nearby voice barked. "Disengage yourself from the Wendy human! She is to be used solely as a test subject. You can play with the remains only after I am through with her."  
I was suddenly wide awake as I realized I was lying on a restraint table in Zim's base. I struggled to sit up only to discover that my wrists and ankles were tightly bound.

GIR looked down at me with a sympathetic frown. "Aww she looks sad. SHE NEEDS CUPCAKES!" Launching himself from the table, he wriggled out of his dog suit, revealing his silver bodied robot form before ducking out of the room.  
I suspected he would be returning with cupcakes? My bewilderment towards GIR's randomness suddenly turned to fear as I looked off to the side. "Mom!" She turned to me, her face contorted in a wild mix of ice cold terror and confusion as she lay strapped to a table like me. "Honey," she whispered. "What is going on here? What is this ugly looking thing and what does he want from us?" "I SHOULD RIP YOUR TONGUE OUT FOR SPEAKING OF ZIM IN SUCH A MANNER, TIMEWORN SCUM OF EARTH!" The molted pocks on Zim's face pulsated as he raged. "Don't you dare threaten her!" I warned protectively before turning to my mother again.

"There is a _lot _going on right now, Mom. I promise I'll explain later, but right now we have to focus on getting out of here."  
Zim laughed, apparently having overheard me. "Thinking about escaping, are we? I don't think so."  
"Just what exactly are you planning to do to us?" I demanded. He flashed a smile of terrifying teeth and said, "I'm glad you asked," With a snap of his fingers, a pair of robotic arms descended from the ceiling, bearing what looked like shock treatment helmets. They clamped uncomfortably around our skulls before the robotic arms retracted into the darkness.  
"This," Zim explained "is a Labotomizer. It can be set to neurologically alter or damage any part of the brain I wish simply by freezing it. So Wendy, my guinea pig, I think I'll start by disabling your brain stem before allowing your mother the liberty of watching me dissect you." "You will do no such thing to my daughter!" said Mom."I can and I will," Zim declared. "but I first must invite one other guest to this party." He turned towards his communicator where he punched in a few buttons. Static filled the screen as the picture struggled to come into focus. Seconds later, the image of a pointy haired boy came into view.  
"I have your little girlfriend, Dib!" Zim said with a sadistic laugh. "If you wish to see her alive again, you'd better hurry down to my base in the next five minutes!"

Dib's face grew paler than usual as he looked past Zim over at Mom and I. "Wha-? Wendy? No! You won't get away with this Zim! I'll be right over and we're going to finish this once and for all!" The screen went snowy again as he disconnected.  
Zim turned with a smug look as he began adjusting the Labotomizer settings around my head. "You know," he started "On second thought, I've decided I'd rather destroy you and your filthy earth mother now than wait for the Dib stink to come and 'save the day'. Imagine the look on his face when he arrives only to find out that he was too late!" he laughed viscously "It will be priceless, don't you think? Then I shall nullify him and both of you will interfere with me no longer! Goodnight, Wendy vermin. Zim would say it has been a pleasure knowing you but surely that would a lie, wouldn't it?"

He grabbed hold of a nearby lever as he attempted to turn on the device. "Wait!" I shouted before he could wrench it all the way back. "Trying to stall me?" he accused "You're wasting your time, foolish child. Nothing can save you from the wrath of Zim!"  
"Please!" I begged "You have to listen to me! Earth is in danger-" "Well, of course it is! _I'm_ going to destroy it!"  
I was beginning to grow impatient with Zim's narcissism as well as his lack of reason. "No! You don't understand! We need to work together on this for once." Zim's ruby bug eyes narrowed as he studied me dubiously. "And why should Zim ally with the likes of you, wretched earth girl?" "Because incompetent space boy," I retorted "Earth is _not _going to be destroyed by you but by a certain someone whom you may have feuded with years ago over this same matter. Someone by the name of Tak."  
Zim went completely slack jawed at the mention of the name. "Ring a bell?" I enticed. He suddenly let out an enraged yell that was enough to make the entire base quake inside the earth. "TAK! That conniving wench of Irk has returned? What is she planning this time?"

"Well, she started with planting some Agathorax fungi, which I'm sure you already know by now is what's been turning everyone into zombies. Because we found out that alien DNA can stop it, she's now planning on hurling a giant flaming meteor at us, which will most likely result in the demise of the entire planet, yourself included." "Zombies?" Mom asked "Meteors and aliens? Wendy, what are you talking about?" "There's really no time to explain it all right now Mom." I told her. "This cannot be!" Zim said incredulously. "She had been ambushed and now she thinks she can try to take my mission again? Well, I'm not going to allow it without a fight! No one takes Zim's mission. NO ONE!" "So," I chimed in "does this mean you're going to help us?"

"Affirmative!" agreed Zim "but it won't be for the sake of your stinking mankind. When your puny planet meets its demise, I want to ensure that it is my hand and only mine." "Whatever. Just unstrap us already so we can get this over with."  
"Yes, yes I will." He was about to undo my restraints when someone had burst through the ceiling, sending bits of shrapnel flying in every direction. Dib leapt into the base, relentlessly holding GIR in both hands. "It's over Zim!" he declared "Release them or I melt your robot into scrap metal!" GIR blinked his cyan eyes naively before shouting, "YAAAAAAAY!"

"Oh no," Zim said sarcastically "Don't do _that_. Then however will I conquer Earth without him here dancing like an idiot and stuff?" Disappointed by his rival's lack of care for his minion, Dib threw the little robot aside. He then stepped off one of the machines as he hurried over in attempt to get me free. "Wendy are you okay? What's he up to?" Refusing to talk to him, I threw him a hostile glare before turning away. "There's no need for a fight, loathsome worm baby," Zim reassured him "The Wendy human has already informed me of the return of Tak and her dastardly plans to yet again eradicate this scurvy little planet, which is why I have chosen to offer my assistance in forestalling her mission."

Dib gave an amused laugh. "You? Help _me_? Oh sure! First you devise a plan to abduct people, offer them as bait and then as soon as I get here, you tell me you want to defend Earth? A likely story. There's no way I'm falling for your little trick Zim!"  
"I admit," Zim confessed "that it was indeed a trick to annihilate you with these two from the start, but a trick it is no more.  
As much as I detest this planet and all you treacherous little maggots that inhabit it, I will side with you and Wendy  
for the sake of putting that terrible Tak in her place." "I will not trust you anymore Zim!" Dib refused "We have teamed up as defenders of Earth before and you always go right back to wanting to destroy it afterwards. You only want to protect it if it's under the threat of someone other than _you_!"

"True," Zim said tediously "After tonight, I mostly likely will go back to wanting you all dead but I have already made up my mind and I'm disposing of Tak." "No you're not! I am!" "Your childish mutiny is beginning to annoy me, Dib monkey."  
Zim wrenched back a nearby lever and Dib, who had been standing on some kind of platform was suddenly catapulted through the roof of the base. After unlocking my restraints, Zim said to me, "Take the elevator up into the house and wait for me outside.  
I'm going to equip the voot cruiser with some explosives, super weapons and all that junk. But there's something I must do first."  
Without warning, he yanked back the lever and my bewildered mother who had been witnessing everything was suddenly shocked unconscious by the Labotmizer.  
"Zim!" I cried "What the hell did you-?" "Calm yourself human," he said holding up one hand defensively "Your mother is fine. I only have momentarily frozen her temporal and frontal lobes. In a few hours, she will awaken in her own bed with no memory  
of seeing me or being down inside my base. She has already seen too much. If I'm going to let her go then she needs to forget me for the sake of my own protection." For a moment, I hesitated but then eventually gave a comprehensive nod. Zim had a point.  
He would only be risking his chances of persecution if someone other than Dib and I knew his true identity, and I wasn't ready to explain to my mother that aliens did exist. "Will she remember me at least?" Zim gave an aggravated sigh then replied in a kinder voice, "Of course."

Stepping out through the front door, I braced myself against the frosty night air. The lawn gnomes and pink dandelions watched with eerie vacant expressions as I walked past towards the fence where I would wait. "Wendy!" Oh great. Out of nowhere, Dib came running in my direction. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What's going on?" I did my best to ignore him and keep walking but he only followed me alongside as he continued to ask more stupid questions. "What's wrong? Why aren't you talking to me? What happened? What did he do to you?" Finally, I had enough. Throwing my hands up, I came to an abrupt halt and gave him my most infuriated glare. "You know what? Just drop the hero act already. I mean, why bother pretending you care for my safety anymore? I'm just 'dead weight' remember?" His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You heard that?" "Every damn word. Here I am solving a majority of all this extraterrestrial bullshit and _this _is the appreciation I get?"

"Wendy, I can explain-" "Referred to as nothing more than a 'sidekick' and someone who is not cut out for this line of work?"  
"Please don't take this so personally," Dib said "I just think it would be best that I handle this on my own-" "Why?" I demanded "Last time I checked, we were in this together! You said it yourself and now all of a sudden you're going rogue? " "Wendy, you're overreacting-" "_Overreacting_! Why should I have even bothered helping you out in the first place? If I would have  
known you were going to stab me in the back, I would have just walked!" "I never backstabbed you!"  
"You know what? I really don't have time for this. I'm waiting for Zim so we can help stop Tak from triggering this meteor."  
Suddenly Dib was outraged. "You're teaming up with _him_?" I shrugged. "Well, since you apparently don't want me on yours anymore..." "Do you honestly believe he cares about this planet, Wendy? He's only using you to dispose of the competition so that he can destroy it himself! I know the type of monster he is. You can't trust him!" For a moment, I stood glowering at him as I slowly shook my head disapprovingly. "No Dib. It's _you _who can't be trusted." I stepped around him as I started to walk away  
when he caught me around the wrist. "Wendy-"

Angrily, I jerked it out of his grasp, throwing him one last hard look. "Just get away from me!" I said before turning my back to him. "I want nothing to do with a deluding, big headed-" I stopped myself right there as I instantly regretted those final words.  
When I turned towards him again, Dib's lower lip gave a slight quiver of anguish and he said no more. It was then that I realized I had already hurt his feelings. There was no time to repent as he suddenly rocketed into orbit, leaving a steak of melancholy blue behind. I stood staring into the night sky after him for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn't long before my eyes began to water and not because I was blinded by the luminance of the moon and stars.

"Onward, dirt pig!" Zim's obnoxious voice suddenly tore me from my despair, and back to reality. "There will be plenty of time for star gazing when we reach space but for now, the voot cruiser awaits!" I wiped the tears from my eyes before he could see I had been crying."Coming." Carefully, I climbed into the spacecraft next to GIR and my unconscious mother. There was a distinct hum followed by a shaky vibration as Zim switched it on causing it to fluctuate off the ground. By that time, it occurred to me that maybe just the two of us wasn't enough. "Zim?" "Hmm?" "I could be wrong, but I'm thinking we could use more backup on this mission." "Nonsense! Invaders work alone." "Well, you're already enlisting my help aren't you?" He groaned, feeling defeated by the fact. "Alright, smart mouthed human. Who do you suggest would make a good candidate?"

We dropped Mom off at home where I had safely tucked her into bed. Afterwards we headed for Dib's house. I tried the doorbell at least four times but there was no answer, and the locked door wasn't much help either. I was ready to give up when Zim had pulled something out of his PAK. "A laser gun?" I asked giving him an odd look. He glared at me. "Do you have a better plan?" Realizing I had nothing, I shrugged. He aimed it at the knob as the red beam severed both the locks and dead bolt neatly in half.  
Instantly the door popped open and we made our way inside. "Gaz?" I called. Dib's sister was nowhere in sight. "Is the scurvy nightmare child even home?" Zim asked tediously. "I hope so," I said "Let's check upstairs."

At the end of the hall, we came to a bedroom door opposite Dib's. By the looks of the dark posters and morbid artwork that covered it, I figured it had to be none other than Gaz's room. I made a fist and gave it a few good knocks. "Gaz?" I called again. "Are you in there? It's Wendy and Zim." No answer. I tried again, a little louder this time. Still, she didn't answer. As a last resort, I tried the door knob, which surprisingly had been unlocked. I knew that I was stepping into dangerous territory but desperate times called for desperate measures.

With Zim at my heels, I slowly made my way into the dark filled room. A nasty chill hung in the air as if this part of the house were haunted. My eyes darted around the piles of video games and creepy stuffed animals until  
I finally spotted the dark form of a body laying on the bed. The head was concealed by a black pillow.  
Slowly, I made my way towards it and carefully pulled the pillow aside. Gaz lay there, Zombie Girl blasting from the pair of headphones she wore. Her eyes flew open like a vampire disturbed from her sleep. She came at me so fast that I didn't even have time to react as I was slammed into the dresser. "Wendy!" she yelled angrily. "Who said you could come into my room?" I could barely get the words out as she held me by the throat so she loosened her grip slightly."We're really sorry for barging in like this but we need your help."

"You need me to do _what_?" Gaz said after we explained the situation down in the kitchen minutes later. She leaned back against the lime green counter, arms crossed impatiently. "Please," I begged "Your brother's out trying to stop that meteor and he can't do it himself. He needs help." "Well, that's for sure." she scoffed. "This is serious!" I said "I know he has superpowers now but what if it's not enough? He could get seriously hurt and I'm not willing to risk that, are you?" For a minute, she stared off as if considering the idea of having her brother out of the way. She seemed delighted by the thought at first. Then as if realizing the consequences, she gave a long disheartened sigh. "Fine. I'll do it. But what's in it for me?"

Zim and I exchanged hopeless glances, already knowing she was about to drive a hard bargain, but recognizing we had to try anyway. "How about," I started "free pizza for a week?" Gaz raised her eyebrows. "Two weeks? Three weeks?"  
She paused as she considered the offer. "Hmm. Enticing but...no. Not good enough." "A year supply of rubber piggies, moose missiles and radioactive donuts?" Zim suggested. She and I both gave him a weird look. "What?" "We could pay you," I proposed "one hundred dollars? Two hundred? Three-" "I don't want your money," said Gaz. I breathed a heavy sigh of defeat.  
"Fine. Then what _do _you want?" She stared at us as if we were clueless. "_Vampire Piggie Hunter: Underworld of Darkness_ is being released at the mall tomorrow at midnight. You will bring me a copy of it promptly after and no later than that. Got it?"  
A video game. I should have known. "Okay," I said, shaking her hand in agreement. "You've got yourself a deal."  
"Pardon my interruption," Zim suddenly said. Gaz and I turned to him with instant looks of horror at the sight of his swollen pulsating face. "but it seems the equinox is going to happen shortly and I'm about to burst." "Then we'd better get you to the field of Agathorax immediately," I said, starting for the door. "If that pus can stop those spores from creating more zombies, then we shouldn't let it go to waste."

Since it had already been a tight squeeze fitting me, Zim, Mom and GIR into the tiny voot cruiser, Gaz suggested she and I take a separate ship. It had belonged to Tak during her first invasion and had crash landed in front of Dib and Gaz's house of all places after Zim had defeated her in space. She hadn't been inside the ship when it crashed, however so Dib decided to keep it in the garage, where he repaired it until it could fly again. Since Gaz obviously had better piloting skills than me, I let her play Captain Kirk with the ship. With Zim following close behind, I directed her to the very area where Tak and I had planted the hideous fungi. "There!" I pointed to a distant patch of green that was glowing like nuclear waste in the surrounding darkness.  
At lightning speed, Gaz steered the ship towards it until we got close enough.

We waited at the edge of the field while Zim parked the voot cruiser. He jumped out, making his way among the Agathorax. It wasn't long before he grabbed hold of his face as he let out a cry of distress. Gaz and I watched in disgust as the skin on his face began to expand and then finally explode, drowning the supernatural plants in a sea of pus.  
Their glow was extinguished at once as they shriveled, leaving beyond nothing but brown tangles of dead roots.  
With a smug grin, Zim turned and gave us a thumbs up before hopping back into the voot cruiser as we headed spaceward.  
The Agathorax had finally been destroyed, never to wreak havoc on Earth again. Now for that meteor...

I never thought that I would ever travel to space one day. Sure, I've seen it in several photographs taken by NASA but that was nothing compared to actually being there. Being thousands of miles away from home and not even on the same planet, but amidst a plethora of swirling galaxies and colorful nebulas bursting like heavenly fireworks. Being so close to the stars that you could almost reach out and touch them. It was an experience so surreal that I almost forgot why we had come there in the first place.  
We landed on a cold, distant planet that was a little further away from Saturn. Zim perceived it as planet Zarconia. Though our surroundings were not exactly pitch black, it was dark enough to the point where flashlights would have been beneficial to thoroughly navigate the area.

Before Gaz and I could step out of Tak's ship, Zim signaled for us to wait as he approached. He reached into his PAK and presented us with two vials of what looked to be several tiny crystals. "You need to inhale these through the nose in order to breathe in space." he instructed. Gaz was hesitant as she eyed him suspiciously. "How do we know you're not planning  
on drugging us with this stuff?" Zim huffed cantankerously. "Then I shall let you implode since oxygen must mean very little to you." With an irritable groan, Gaz snatched one of the vials from him and snorted it like cocaine. I carefully picked up the  
other as I followed her lead. "It should last no more than six hours," Zim informed. "Enough time for us to track down Tak and the Dib monkey and destroy the meteor before we return to Earth," he drummed his three fingers together like an evil genius  
before shouting like a sergeant, "Onward humans!"

Within minutes, I could already feel the air gradually becoming less constricted, and I no longer felt like I was scaling Mount Everest. I couldn't, however say that Zarconia's climate didn't still match that of the world's tallest mountain.  
The planet was so cold to the point where we could see our own breath. We seemed to have been wandering aimlessly and there  
was still no sign of Dib nor Tak. Desperately, I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, "DIB!"  
"Really?" Gaz patronized. "Here we are trudging around in this massive universe and you honestly think he's going to hear  
_that_?" Frustrated, I threw my hands up in defeat. Sure, she had a point but what else was I supposed to do? That meteor could be heading for Earth at any minute now and we were wasting time. "Zim," I said crucially "Don't you have some sort of tracking device in that PAK of yours so we can find them faster?" "I may," He trailed behind us as he began rummaging for such an object.

We took a few more steps into a weedy area when something slimy sprayed our legs. "Ugghh!" Gaz complained, jumping backwards "What _is_ this stuff?" "I have no idea," I said in disgust. Thinking nothing of it, we moved along until suddenly more slime emitted from every direction, covering us completely in thick goop. "Okay, somebody's about to get their head knocked clean right off if they don't cut it out right this second!" Gaz warned the darkness.  
"No kidding," I agreed, wiping the repugnant substance from my arms. "This is disgusting, whatever it is! Hey Zim, did you  
find that tracking device yet?" For some reason, he didn't respond. "Zim?"

When we turned towards him, he looked different. His ruby eyes had a new glow about them as he watched us. Not that imperious glow they normally had, but more of what seemed like a newfound rapture. "Zim?" I repeated, waving a hand  
in front of his face. "Hello? What are you looking at?" He said nothing as his gaze shifted lazily from me to Gaz.  
Finally Gaz stepped in. "Seriously, Zim you're creeping us out. Knock it off already so we can find Dib." At first Zim's antennae twitched with interest as she spoke then he began trembling as if her words created a silky sensation over his body. What was wrong with him?

When he finally responded, his normally vexatious voice came out as a robust growl. "It's unimaginable how I could detest the human race when such tantalizing specimen of this very culture stand before me." "Zim, what are you talking about...?  
Oh crap!" When we looked down at our feet, the reason behind Zim's sudden weird behavior became all too clear. We were up to our knees in Star Dancers, which meant we were covered in the slime said to drive aliens wild! "Wendy," Gaz started,  
"You and I run NOW!" Together, we bolted past him and Zim followed in hot pursuit. To make matters worse, he was already ganging up on us with the help of his spider legs. I just couldn't believe it. Of all the catastrophic things that could happen, this had to be one of them. Zim leapt alongside of Gaz. He snaked his long tongue out at her like a drunken frat boy.

"My Irken flesh longs to be caressed by those perfect lips of yours, ravishing purple haired human. Won't you do Zim the honor?"  
"No," Gaz said harshly "But she will!" "GAZ!" I whined as she threw him into me. I was struggling to wrestle Zim away  
when someone had barreled into me. Falling hard onto my bum, my stomach did a horrible series of somersaults when  
I realized who it had been. Dib went from looking bewildered to furious as his eyes shifted from me to Zim and Gaz.  
"YOU! What are you guys all doing here? I told you before that this was _my _mission! I don't need any of your help!"  
"Yes, you do," I insisted. "Dib, have you even seen this meteor yet? It could be larger than this planet for all you know  
and we can't let you risk dealing with it all on your own. Not only that but who knows what other tricks Tak may have up  
her sleeve? Did you even think about that? Are you even prepared?"

Before he could argue, Gaz came to my defense. "Listen Dib, I wasted twenty minutes of my life wandering around  
stupid space looking for you when I could have been at home playing my Game Slave 2 or listening to music.  
So don't tell us that you don't want our help after forcing me to endure all that. You make me come here for nothing  
and I swear you're going to regret it as soon as you get back home. Got it?" Dib looked intimidated by his sister's  
threats. Then with a confounded sigh, he said. "Okay, fine. Have it your way."

Since Dib himself still hadn't located Tak, we flew the ships over to another planet and impatiently continued our search.  
All the while, Dib and I still refused to talk, let alone look at each other. Gaz and I excessively tried to avoid Zim's  
amorous stalking. I made a mental note to take a shower as soon as I got home. Finally, I decided to go off on my own  
to distance myself from the two of them and hopefully find even the slightest trace of something.  
For a moment, I thought I had seen the meteor out of my peripheral vision. When I looked, it turned out it had only been a shooting star whizzing by. Frustrated, I kicked at the ground, sending bits of rubble skittering in every direction and moved on

It wasn't until a few minutes later when I finally noticed it. A massive black spacecraft, pulling along an insanely larger object on a thick grappling hook from behind. The object had have been no larger than the moon itself. As it drew closer, I uttered a gasp of sheer terror. It was indeed a meteor and it was completely immersed in flames. Quickly, I attempted to get a closer look at the pilot. It was Tak, looking determined and vengeful in her Irken form as she steered the ship toward the direction of Earth.  
She was going to hurl it into the planet like a massive wrecking ball! I ducked behind a large nearby rock so that she wouldn't see me as she flew by. This was a lot worse than I imagined. How were we supposed to stop something that huge?  
I really hoped there was a way, but my hope was dwindling the more I looked at it. I was about to run and inform the others  
when I was suddenly ensnared by a thick, cold and slimy something. "HELP!" I screamed.

It was a tentacle. A large tentacle coiling around my waist and suspending in the air upside down. Fear grappled my heart  
as I found myself looking into the one black eye of a twenty foot tall cephalopod like alien. Its pulsating head was bulbous in shape and its colors shimmered like an iridescent rainbow of pinks, blues and purples. It had a feeler bearded mouth similar to Cthulu's only a little bit smaller. Its other seven tentacles fanned out around it like a squiggly peacock tail, revealing many rows of pink suckers underneath. As petrified as I was of this thing, I had to admit that I also found it strangely beautiful.  
It gazed lovingly at me through its one cyclops eye as it fondled me with its tentacle. It was then when I realized that I was still covered in Star Dancer slime. Crap. I did not sign up to become an alien magnet.  
_Do not fear me, most seraphic maiden of Earth,_ a voice suddenly echoed through my mind. _My name is Krysylyst. You may call my Krys if you'd like. _The voice was soft and ethereal almost like that of an angel. It took me a moment to discover that the alien was communicating with me telepathically. _Gaze deeply into my eye, oh captivating one. _"I can't-" I responded aloud.  
When I tried to avert my eyes, Krysylyst gently guided my head back towards him with the tip of his tentacle.

_Gaze into my eye,_ he repeated the command, _Surrender to my ardent devotion for you. Release all of your inhibitions and allow yourself to be mine._ I suddenly felt as if I were floating on a cloud as he spoke diaphanously. I had finally reached the point where I became so relaxed that I could no longer fight it. As I went limp in his grasp, the empyrean alien leapt from the planet and together we ascended into the heavens. It was like a lucid dream as electric blue stars and endless divine galaxies whirred by. Krysylyst's tentacles had a phantasmal glow about them against the stark black sky as they propelled deeper into space.  
Finally we arrived on another planet and I found myself in awe of the cave he brought me into. It was like a mermaid's grotto. The walls were bejeweled with millions of sapphire crystals bathing everything in blue serenity.

As soon as the alien reached the end of the cave, he set me down onto the smooth amethyst lined floor. His large black eye sparkled with sentiment as it looked me over. _I am enraptured by your breathtaking beauty, _I heard him say.  
_And even more so by the ambrosial scent of your succulent skin! Tonight I will take you as my queen and we will rule the Xyclon empire side by side for eternity. However, I'm afraid I cannot wait for the wedding ritual to satiate this aching desire.  
_He placed one of his tentacles behind my head, urging me towards his mouth. The feelers licked ravenously for my face.  
_Kiss me_,Krysylyst ordained. Entranced by his command, I leaned in toward the caress. "Wendy get away from it!" a voice suddenly shouted from afar. Snapping out of my daze, I turned to see Dib running in my direction flanked by a jealous looking Zim and a disgruntled Gaz.  
Krysylyst's gentleness suddenly turned menacing as he drew himself up to full height, catching sight of the intruders entering  
his cave. Zim, however wasn't the least bit intimidated as the metal spider legs emerged from his PAK.  
"YOU DARE ABDUCT MY HUMAN, MUTANT BLOB WITH LEGS?!" He raged. "You males can never stick to just one girl can you?" Gaz said rolling her eyes at his stupidity. In spite of the fact that Zim was a hamster compared to the larger alien, he  
charged at him. Before he could put so much as a scratch into Krysylyst's flesh, the spider legs were seized by one giant tentacle.  
Zim was then lifted and spun around before getting tossed through the air like a boomerang. He ricocheted off the crystal filled wall before landing in a tangled heap of damaged metal and pride.

_I HAVE WAITED EONS FOR THIS MOMENT TO COME! _Krysylyst's voice boomed with devastating passion. _EONS TO FIND A BRIDE AS PERFECT AS SHE! YOU SHAN'T EVER TAKE THAT AWAY!_ Zim rolled out of the way before he was about to be crushed by another falling tentacle. I was about to run towards Dib and Gaz when Krysylyst dropped another tentacle in front of me, blocking my path to safety. _Look at me, dearest, _he imposed, returning to his milder tone. _Remember that this is where your true destiny lies, forever by my side. Won't you look at me, cherubic one? _A magnetic force seemed to be inclining my head in his direction as he spoke. "Wendy, that thing is hypnotizing you!" Dib warned "Don't look at its eye! You have to get away from it! Run away now!" I was almost entranced when he suddenly threw a rock at the alien's bulbous head, breaking his concentration. "Hey!" he shouted "Leave her alone!" Krysylyst unleashed an angry roar as he rampaged after Dib, who had turned to lead him out of the cave. "That's it, you overgrown pile of slime!" he taunted "Come and get me!"

Gaz and I followed while Zim staggered to his feet. As soon as we made it out of the cave, an ugly fight was happening before us. A mass of tentacles and rays of cobalt blue light flying in every direction as if Superman were taking on the Kraken.  
Then the unthinkable happened. The two of them were edging toward a very deep crater and before either of us could say anything, Krysylyst fell in, taking Dib with him. "DIB!" I screamed. Gaz ran ahead of me, looking down into the dark abyss. She knelt down to pick up something that lay at her feet and my hands flew to my mouth as she held up a mangled pair of glasses. Dib's glasses. As I slowly came up beside her, I could see the silver glimmer of a tear gather at the corner of her eye and trickle down her pale cheek. "Gaz..." my voice came out as no more than a hoarse whisper "Is he...?" I couldn't even finish the sentence as I choked back a sob of my own.

After a few minutes of mournful silence, someone reemerged from the crater. Covered in black mucus, the figure hoisted himself up out of it and climbed to his feet. He wiped the gunk off his face, and I swear it felt as if my heart grew wings and took flight.  
"The alien's dead," Dib said breathlessly "Has anyone seen my glasses?" I thought about hugging him. Before I could do anything, Gaz approached her brother and suddenly gave his face a deafening smack. "Don't ever do that to me again!" she yelled. Rubbing his reddened cheek, Dib was taken aback by his sister's sudden outburst. Then a little half smile pulled at his lips.  
"Gaz? You thought I was dead? And you...cared?" Quickly, Gaz scrambled for an excuse. "I...no...I just don't want to have to take it up with Dad later if something happened to you."

Fortunately, we were able to locate and catch up with Tak. Dib steered the voot cruiser as we followed her in secret. Meanwhile, Zim and GIR quietly hijacked her ship, where they were to unnoticeably plant the explosives so that it would detonate before she could get too close to Earth. Gaz had chosen to stay parked in the other ship close by and play her Game Slave 2 while she waited for us to wrap up the mission. The bad news? Dib wasn't finished with our fight from earlier. "I just don't get you," he said disapprovingly. "You act like you're going to be a big help and then you go and get yourself abducted by a giant alien! Do you have any idea how much time was wasted?" "That wasn't my fault!" I said "I went off to find Tak and that thing took off with me before I could even tell you I did!" "You know what? I think the only reason you're here is because you just want all the fame to yourself! You're jealous of the fact that I'm a super hero now!" I was completely outraged by what I was hearing. "Listen to yourself! Where is this all coming from? That has nothing to with anything! You said we were a team before. What happened?" He was shaking as he spoke. "Look, I don't need you feeling sorry for me anymore, alright? After tonight, no one will ever make fun of me again." I could feel hot tears stinging my eyes as I watched him in disbelief. "What are you saying? I have never felt sorry for you!"

Frustrated, Dib released the gears on the voot cruiser. He stared hard into my face as he gripped my shoulders."Then why are even here? Why do you constantly have to be by my side if it's not out of pity or for the sake of stealing my spotlight?" "IT'S BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOT!" His expression changed as I blurted those words and a look of shock immediately took over. Shaking myself from his grasp, I turned away and threw my head into my hands. I finally said it and I couldn't take it back.  
I couldn't even look at him now. A few minutes later, Dib gently took my tear splashed face in his hands and turned it toward him.  
When our gazes met one another, that dark look of power had vanished from his eyes and were now sparkling with emotion behind his broken glasses."Wendy..." he started "I had no idea that you-" We were suddenly interrupted by a massive explosion as Tak's ship burst into flaming bits of shrapnel. The force was so great that it caused the voot cruiser to turbulent. "Hang on!" Dib immediately took hold of the gears again as he dodged remains of inferno laced meteor that came hurling in our direction.

There was a prolonged cry as Zim and GIR were thrown from the wreckage, smacking against the voot cruiser's windshield.  
"SHIP WENT 'SPLODY!" GIR cheered as the two of them slid down the glass. I thought we had succeeded until someone else had shown up. An enraged Tak, looking battered and charred leapt onto our ride as well. "YOU!" she screamed looking towards me. "YOU LITTLE BRAT! THIS IS ALL YOUR DOING!" Suddenly she smashed the windshield, yanking me through the shattered glass and hoisting me on top of the voot cruiser. "I didn't blow up your ship!" I protested.  
"No matter!" Tak said threateningly. "It was you who have brought this misfortune upon me! You who have threatened my mission! Now you shall pay!" There was a sharp _shing!_ as her spider legs appeared and she came at me.

Before I could attempt to defend myself, I was already prostrated on the roof. The pain in my ribs was unbearable as they endured several blows from Tak's steel toed boots. Just as Dib and Zim climbed up to intervene, I slowly managed to pull myself to my feet. That was when one of Tak's spider legs stabbed all the way through my left shoulder. My cries of anguish were mixed with Dib's cries of "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tak's violet eyes glowed with infernal hatred as her lips formed a cruel smile at my suffering. There was a sickening sound of metal unsheathing from flesh and bone as she withdrew the spider leg.  
I fell to my knees, clutching my wounded shoulder as my own blood oozed warmly through my fingers.

Before Tak could finish the job, another spacecraft pulled up beside the voot cruiser. A pair of stocky aliens dressed in blue uniforms stepped out and tackled the vindictive female Irken. "Invader Tak, you are under arrest," one of them announced as he fastened her wrists with laser handcuffs. "You were specifically informed that you were to wait another seventy years to train  
to become an elite soldier. Because you have broken the law by abandoning your janitorial duties on planet Dirt and attempting to overtake an enemy planet anyway, you will be sentenced to ten years in prison." "What? NO!" Tak protested. "This was supposed to be my moment! The reason I couldn't take the test the first time was because that wretched little monster-" she pointed an accusatory finger at Zim "shattered my opportunity! He's the one responsible for the blackout on planet Devastis!"  
"Save it, sister!" the second cop ordered. "You can tell the prison guards all about it when we get you back on Dirt!"  
Tak continued to scream and struggle like a child throwing a tantrum as they loaded her into the ship and disappeared into space.

Because there was no way of reaching a hospital in time, Zim worked fast to keep me from bleeding out. Ripping my shirt away, he applied a silver medical gel to my bare shoulder. It had a strange cooling effect on my skin before it completely closed the wound. He told me that it would take a few hours for the feeling to return to my shoulder once again but I would be okay.  
I flew back to Earth with Gaz while the others followed close behind. "I don't know about you," she said "but I think I'll stick to slaying vampire piggies instead of saving the world from now on. As soon as I get home, I'm going straight to bed."  
When I didn't answer, she glanced over at me. "Hey. You okay?" I could feel the tears filling my eyes again as I stared down at my hands in my lap and shook my head. Already sensing what was wrong, Gaz breathed a heavy sigh before giving my shoulder a half hearted pat. "Look," she said with forced sympathy. "It will be okay. Dib is an idiot, I know but he will come around. Alright?" "I guess..." I sighed. Only time would tell.

When we arrived back at the Membrane residence, we parked Tak's ship back in the garage and stepped out. My stomach lurched as Dib showed up shortly after us. He stopped three feet away as he watched me expectantly. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words. I didn't even give him time for I was afraid of what those words may be. Before I started home, I turned to Gaz. "Well, thanks for all your help tonight. I'll get that game to you as soon as I can tomorrow, okay?" "Sure," said Gaz. "See ya." I took off running down the street, not glancing back once even as Dib repeatedly called out my name. I'd been rejected too many times as a result of falling in love too hard. I wasn't about to let it happen again.


End file.
